Day After Yesterday (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon)
by Altering Creation
Summary: They say she's destined to destroy the world... Torn between her ideals and potential truth, Taiyo, a human who has suddenly turned into an Eevee, teams up with a Zorua to prove herself. One thing leads to another, and she finds herself on an exploration team in Soul Union with a destiny as important as the sun left for her to fulfill. (review my story and I'll review yours)
1. Prolouge: Relenting Darkness

A world where darkness resides as its master… What am I doing here? The trees are dead, the ground is dead, all the Pokemon are dying off one by one, each a little more painful than the last each one struggles less than the last. So much blood as been spilled, so much life as faded right before my eyes… I shiver from the cold breeze that floats past this hell. Or maybe it isn't the cold. It could be guilt. It could be death finally coming back for me. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it? I couldn't go like that. Just alone here in a dead forest all alone. Without receiving punishment from my sins? Too easy.

Slowly I stand up, shaking off my pain with gritted teeth. I feel my own blood starting to dry at my leg where I had been sliced. So many want to be the ones to see life leave my eyes but they don't understand at all. So many want me to be dead but they don't know the half of it.

"Here!" I heard a voice in the distance call. "I could have sworn I heard something!" A mob of what sounded to be about fifteen cheered.

Resting time is over. Time to run again. I bound off into the dead woodlands. My eyes have sharpened and adjusted to this unrelenting darkness. It's always night time and there are never any stars. There are no phases of the moon; it's always new moon. Always. I catch a glimpse of a fallen tree and have barley a second to dodge it. Through the nightmare I run on, leaving all remorse behind. I push on. Numb from exhaustion I blindly run. What's the point though? What am I running from? The mob? After all of this, am I afraid to die at anyone's mercy but my own? Why do I even bother?

Sucking wind I lean against a tree and feel its bark crumble as I scrape the surface. The voices of the mob are distant now so I figure I have time to rest. Sliding down to the ground I catch my breath. I take a moment to look up at the sky. Of course I can't see anything but I like to think that maybe, someday, I'll be able to see the moon.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Darkness is all I've ever known. _Darkness is where I reside, where I decide, what I control, what fabricates my soul. I am darkness._ And I resent myself for it. All I want is to see light. Just once, I want to see light and feel warmth. Slowly I open my eyes. Shock shoots up my body when I see the new world I've opened my eyes to. A faint glow surrounds me with a gentleness I have never known. All around me the world has suddenly become visible because of this newfound glow. The trees and hills are no longer dark outlines seen in the distance. They all seem so real. Every crack in the bark of the trees is visible, each branch is in sight. Weirdest of all, everything has a dark silhouette behind it. As I move, this dark copy of myself on the ground moves too. It frightens me but no more than it intrigues me. _That must be a shadow… I've heard about them but I've never seen one… But where is this glow even coming from?_

As I look around, my eyes follow the source as it gets brighter and brighter until my eyes fall upon my arms. A soft yellow glow is emitted from them. When I follow my arms and down my chest and my whole body, I see I am engulfed in this comforting radiant fog of some sort. _Could this be… light? _


	2. Chapter 1: A Rude Awakening

_Author's Note: I forgot to do this in the Prologue but whatever. I've never used this cite before so I'm still kinda figuring stuff out. Anyway, thanks to everyone who is reading! And if you have any constructive criticism or suggestions, I'm here to learn!_

**West Woodlands**

As I floated towards consciousness, I struggled to break the surface. The world around me was distorted and it reminded me of being underwater. Feeling flowed through my numb body although I wasn't sure if it was a good thing because of the pain that followed.

"….sh-…ome..." something whispered. It was impossible to tell what they were saying though. As they continued to speak, their words amplified and soon I could make out some of it. "come…. Please… open… eyes…"

_Are they talking to me? _The impetus to open my eyes and respond became overwhelming. The tepid air around me suddenly became tangible to me. The breeze passed by, giving feeling to my body. I forced my eyes to open and behold the holder of the voice that carried me out of my trance.

Standing over me, there was a Pokemon. Its fur was mainly gray with red tips on the ends of each of its four legs. On its head, it had a tuft of fur that was also tipped with red. It had a collar of black fur around its neck and its eyes had red eye lids and red markings like looked like eye brows or something. I recognized it to be a Zorua. It looked relived like it had just been frantically worrying over something. _I hope it wasn't worrying about me…_

"Thank goodness you're ok!" it said with a smile. The voice was distinctly male. "I wouldn't have been able to drag you to any kind of doctor."

Shock hit me like cold water. I leapt to my feet in surprise and jumped back. "Woah! How can you talk!" But something was wrong… Humans are much bigger than Zorua but this one was bigger than me! "You're huge!" I exclaimed looking up at the Zorua.

Confusion masked the Zorua's face. "What are you talking about? I'm normally sized as any other Zorua." He gave me a questioning look. "Eevee are naturally smaller than Zorua. You didn't hit your head, did you?"

_Eevee? What do they have to do with this?_ "What are you talking about?" I inquired.

"Well, haven't you ever seen a Zorua?" the Zorua asked me. "You can't expect to be bigger than me. That and you're a girl, so female eevee are even smaller than male eevee!"

"Why do you keep talking about eevee?" I rolled my eyes. "Haven't you ever seen a human before? Of course I can expect to be bigger than you!"

The Zorua studied my face for a second. "Humans? What do they have to do with this?"

I rolled my eyes, growing quickly exasperated. "I'm a human! Are you blind!"

"What are you talking about? You're an eevee!" Zorua's eyes flashed with irritation. "If this is a joke, it isn't a very good one."

For a second, I wasn't sure if this Zorua was joking with me. Slowly, I looked down at my feet, but what I saw wasn't what I expected to see. In place of my human body, I saw a cream colored collar of fur and two chestnut paws in place of my feet. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. I craned my neck to look behind me and sure enough I saw a feline like body covered in chestnut fur and a bushy tail with a cream colored tip. _Holy crap! No… Th-this isn't my body! _I looked back at the Zorua who looked like he was regretting waking me up. "What am I!" I demanded.

"I just told you to end the joke, didn't I?" the Zorua looked away.

"This isn't a joke!" I almost shouted. "I am a HUMAN!" I looked up at the sky. It was clear and blue. The forest around me was bright and cheerful. Sunlight poured through the summer leaves… The world was normal, but why wasn't I?

"If you're a human, then prove it," the Zorua's eyes glittered with curiosity. "At least tell me the region you're from."

I opened my mouth to respond but realization turned my blood to ice. _What happened 10 minutes ago… where was I 10 minutes ago…?_ "I have no idea…" I shook my head. "I can't remember anything!" My heart rate quickened with panic. "This is a dream! That's it!" I drew a shaky breath and almost laughed. "Just hit me, like, as hard as you can!"

"Calm down!" the Zorua gave me a sympathetic smile. "This is reality. How about you tell me your name?"

I shook my head. "All I know for certain is that I was a human before I came here."

"Well my name is Illusions," the Zorua said with a smile.

"Illusions?" I thought about it for a second. "That's pretty long."

Illusions shrugged. "That's my name."

"Can I call you… Illu?" I said with a little affection. "You know, a nickname."

"I like that name," Illu smiled with a new friendliness. "Sure thing. Well, Come on, I was only out in the forest for a walk but we should get back to town. You don't have anywhere to stay right? I'm sure you can find a place in Treasure Town."

"S-so you believe me!" I didn't even try to hide the relief in my voice as Illu walked past me.

He looked over his shoulder with a new emotion in his eyes. "You don't seem like a bad Pokemon, and I can't just leave you here!"

Without hesitating, I practically skipped over to Illu and fell in place beside him as we walked towards Treasure… _Town? Or was it village?_


	3. Chapter 2: Baton Pass

**West Woodlands F1**

**"**We've been walking in circles!" I complained. "Don't you LIVE in Treasure Town?"

Illu looked flustered. "I-I don't know what's happening! It's different this time around! The forest is completely rearranged! This hasn't happened before!"

I held my tongue as we walked on. I looked up at the sky. The clearing I woke up in had a much different feel than this area of the forest did. It was so lush over in the clearing. The trees were green, songs of starly, pidgey, and taillow could all be heard and hoppip were carried around by the breeze. Here it was somehow dark and eerie. The trees leaves were purple and the bark looked like it was dead. The grass was in patches and wilting. I couldn't see any flowers and the trees that normally bore fruit in every color of the rainbow were dead with only a few rotten berries on the ground to show for it. No matter which way we went, we always ended up in the same place, recognizable only by a large rock.

A low buzzing sound came to my ear. I tried to pinpoint the location but it sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once. "Illu," I questioned. "Do you hear that buzzing too?"

Illu stopped in his tracks and I almost walked right into him. I stepped beside him to see what the hold up was and what I saw would have made me stop in my tracks too. Swarms of beedrill with their stingers pointed at us like guns were buzzing some sort of battle cry. Terror struck me like lightening.

"No sudden movements…" Illu whispered to me. In unison, we each tiptoed backwards to get out of the way of the swarm. I could feel my heart pounding at my ribs with fear. The urge to all out sprint was overwhelming but so was my desire to live so I lightly backed away.

Just the sight of us was enough to set the beedrill off into frenzy. The leader beedrill took a stand in front of his swarm. He buzzed something we couldn't understand and then started flying right at us with the swarm as the wind beneath his wings.

"Forget tiptoeing! RUN!" I cried.

The two of us ran for our lives with the beedrill's buzz right in our ears. The buzz vibrated through me and made my fur tingle. Beside me I saw Illu's face of fear as he craned his neck to look behind himself. "We won't be able to outrun them for much longer! This could be it!"

"Not a chance!" I replied. "Use your illusion ability and hide if you want but I have a plan! At least if I don't make it, you will!"

Illu growled. "I won't just leave you here to meet a bloody end!"

"Just do it!" I snapped. "Use illusions to turn into a tree or something. I know what I'm doing."

"Hurry," I yelled over the buzz. "Or I'll miss my chance!"

"I'll follow your lead but I won't abandon you!" Illu said defiantly.

I would have protested more but my chance was coming up. Our one chance of survival. I saw the rock coming up fast. It was the rock every path led to.

"If you're sure," I answered feeling touched by his willingness to stay with me.

"I'm sure!" Illu smiled. "All for one and one for all!"

I nodded. "Do what I do!"

Once I made it to the rock, I spun fast as I saw all the beedrill coming upon me like a tidal wave. "Get ready to jump," I whispered to Illu. The leader beedrill was up in front and he went in front of the entire swarm of beedrill to be the first to take a stab at us. It charged right at us with its stinger ready to spear us with speed faster than what I expected, but it wasn't fast enough. The second before the beedrill stabbed us right through the heart, I yelled out the cue, "JUMP!"

We both leapt into the air and caught it off guard. When I looked down, I saw the wings under me and I felt them graze my paws and it tickled.

My plan was perfectly executed. The beedrill was going way to fast to slow down and it crashed right into the rock. The force from its crash shattered the boulder to gravel and underneath the graver, a set of stairs were revealed!

When we landed from our jump, we were right at the top of the stairs. Without hesitation we bolted down them and the buzz of the beedrill faded into the distance. Once we got off the last step, the entire case disappeared, leaving no trace it even existed, sealing the beedrill in another part of the forest.

**West Woodlands F2**

Once the stairs faded into oblivion, I knew we were safe… For now. My heart was still pounding like a rock band drummer and my breathing was heavy from the running. But we lived. I laughed at the craziness of it all. Against all odds, we lived! The sweet relief went to my head and I couldn't stop laughing and Illu joined in too. Both of us were on the forest floor howling at our survival.

"Oh Arceus!" Illu gasped for breath. "I can't believe I'm still alive! I thought for sure we were done for!"

I took a moment to gather myself. "I thought we were done for too!" I admitted.

"But what about your plan?" Illu gaped. "Didn't you know what you were doing! I thought you had it all figured out! How did you know the way out was under the rock!"

I shrugged. "I didn't know. I just thought it was the only possible way out. Every path lead to it so I thought it was important. Anyway, I wanted you to hide because I was only going off a hunch. I was surprised to find out I was right."

"You did all that on a hunch!" Illu exclaimed. "What about the whole 'I know what I'm doing' thing! That was an act!"

"Well come on," I countered. "It was our one chance at surviving. I had to take it. A little risk paid off this time around."

"LITTLE risk!" Illu sighed with exasperation. "You're really impulsive…"

"You're missing the big idea," I said coolly. "Why were there stairs in the middle of a forest? That's not natural."

Illu's eyes widened in shock. "I never thought of that! I guess I was so caught up in the fact that I almost died to notice. I'm sure that Chatot would know. He knows everything. He's the town elder of Treasure Town."

I nodded. "Ok! So onward to Treasure Town!"

. . .

The walk through the forest was somehow… relaxing. Even though death could jump out at us at any turn, I was sort of laid back. Illu was walking a little bit in front of me. At every sound, I noticed him flinch. I chuckled at how he was so on edge, especially when it was a noise like the wind through the trees. I could understand his fears though. Those beedrill just attacked us out of nowhere. Illu and I could speak and be civilized but those Pokemon were… uncivilized? It probably had to do with this messed up forest. I wondered why I wasn't afraid… maybe the only reason I was so cool about it all was because I have nothing to lose.

I took a moment to turn my gaze to the sky. For some reason, I wasn't overly surprised when the sky was a sickly shade of maroon. I didn't have any memories but I immediately knew it wasn't natural. I guess that's a Pokemon instinct.

Of course I've only been a Pokemon for… maybe an hour? It seemed like my life had only just begun. The second I woke up, I began to exist. But there has to be more… I wonder how I ended up lying on the forest floor without any memories. I remember I was human but not knowing my own name disheartened me. I was nameless. As nameless as the unborn.

As I thought about what I was like I was a little afraid. What if I was a bad person? What if I don't like what I remember? I shuddered at looked up at Illu again. He was completely disoriented and each step seemed to make him tremble a little bit. "Illu," I said gently. He flinched when I said his name as though it frightened him. I took a step beside him. "You don't have to be so afraid you know. As long as we sick together, then we'll be ok. We escaped the beedrill, didn't we?"

When Illu met my eyes, I smiled happily at him. Illu's eyes glittered with some emotion I couldn't pinpoint. Nostalgia? "Thanks. But, it's just that this place… it's so unnatural, it just chills me."

I nudged him with my shoulder. "Well, let's just get out of here before another swarm of Pokemon come at us."

In response, Illu gave a forced laugh. I couldn't help but smirk at his lame attempt to make me stop worrying about him. Illu stumbled in front of me and assumed to the lead once more. Without hesitating, I trotted after him.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Illu… I trusted him with all my heart but we'd been walking for at least 2 hours. Or maybe it just felt like it because I was so desperate to get out of the forest. "Illu," I eased my way into a question. "Does anything look familiar yet?"

Illu was reluctant to answer but he shook his head. "This is so confusing! Nothing is changing!" he responded looking disheartened.

"Don't worry about it," I reassured him. "Maybe we should look for stairs or something."

Illu nodded in agreement as he cast a nervous glance around the area and I couldn't help but do the same.

We kept going forward, through the artifice. As we progressed, the trees became even more distorted from reality than the other floor. The Pokemon around here were hostile and every time I dared to look around, I'd always see a pair of red eyes glaring at us, concealed in the murky, almost purple air. The sense of forbidding that hung in the air felt like it was going to choke me. The cool I felt earlier was quickly fleeing from me, but I wanted to stay strong for Illu.

A faint chattering noise met my ears and I stopped short. Illu turned around to see me with a nervous expression. "W-what's wrong?"

I angled my long ears to a row of shrubbery beside us. I peered deep into the bush but was unable to make out anything. I held still for a moment before shaking my head as I turned to face Illu. "I just thought I heard something. Let's just keep going."

Illu's gaze flickered to the bush but he turned to walk forward. We hardly took two steps when out of the shadows, two shadows leapt out in front of us causing us both to leap back in fright. I screamed in fear and Illu tripped and stumbled in front of me. My terrified eyes struggled to bring the two shadows into focus. Illu gave a shaky laugh as he stood up trembling from his fright. "It's ok. Just rattata."

As soon as Illu said it, the two Pokemon came into focus. Their small purple bodies were arched in warning and their leering red eyes were narrowed like they were trying to aim an arrow. "I don't know," I slowly spoke, "they don't look to happy to see us."

My words seemed to provoke them, and one of them hissed and snarled at us. Illu opened his mouth to say something to me but the rattata didn't waste any time charging at us. Before we could react, the two of them leapt onto Illu. One bit into his tail and the other one clung onto his left ear causing him to thrash around in pain. He crumbled to the ground in a whirling mess. Giving it every effort, he wrenched his body every direction trying to throw them off; his blood spattered onto my paws, and I took a step back in fear.

Illu shrieked but it only made them cling on even harder. "DO SOMETHING!" he screeched at me.

Terror stopped my in my tracks. What if I did something wrong? "Umm… Ummm…." I'm not a real Pokemon… Can I even use attacks?

Blood started dripping out of Illu's tail. He desperately wrenched his body every which way in an attempt to fling them off. Seeing Illu's blood pool onto the ground broke me out of my trance. I ran up to the rattata on his tail. Its yellow teeth jutted out of Illu's body like blades causing my stomach to lurch. Illu's tail flailed around with fading strength.

"Hold still for a second!" I couldn't keep the panic out of my voice. Illu's thrashing slowed to a stop but I could see his face twisted in pain. "I'm sorry, Illu, but this might hurt."

I opened my mouth wide and decided to beat the rattata at its own game. I clamped down hard on its tail and once I felt it wince with pain, I ripped it right out without hesitation. Over the sound of tearing flesh, I heard Illu's screech. As soon as I got the ratatta out, it started whimpering and cradling its broken mangled tail. With a squeak, it scurried away.

Illu's tail looked disgusting. It was bloody and mangled with fur falling out in clumps. I shuddered at his tail as I tired to blink the black spots out of my vision. Apparently, I'm not too good with blood. I almost forgot about the second rattata until I heard Illu crying out in pain.

The second rattata was even worse. It was hanging on and scratching at Illu's face. Illu was making feeble attempts to swipe it off but as head swipe grew weaker than the last. I shuddered and snapped at the rattata's tail. I gripped it firmly and through its filthy purple fur, I spoke in a muffled voice. "Stay strong, this will hurt."

I knew that his ear would hurt much for than the tail. I gripped onto the rattata until I felt the warm gush of blood in my teeth but its grip wouldn't lighten. If anything, it got tighter. As I held on, I used quick attack to leap backwards and whirl myself in the air at the same time to wrench the damn thing out. I heard a shriek of pain from Illu and the rattata was out cold on the ground.

I ran over to Illu's aid. He was whimpering in pain and tears glittered in his eyes. His ear was even grosser than his tail. There was a dip nick in his ear, like the rattata ripped off some of it. "I-I'm so sorry! If only I just realized what I heard was rattata!" I apologized as I stood over my broken friend.

"Oran berries… Get some oran berries," Illu gasped as he tried to catch his breath.

"I know it hurts to talk, but in just two words, what do they look like?" I asked with a twinge of guilt at my lack of knowledge.

"Round… Blue… Hard," Illu could hardly hold back the tears.

"No problem buddy! I'll be back in a little while, you just… you just hang in there!" I assured him as I turned away to look around, praying to anyone that nothing would catch him while I was away.

. . .

Finding a berry really wasn't that hard. I found three of them, but they were right by a spearow. The bush I was in gave me a perfect view of them and hid me from the spearow's searching eyes. I sighed as I debated whether or not to steal the berries. I wasn't at a type disadvantage or anything so I could probably take it. I shook my head. I _had _to take it. Illu was suffering and I couldn't bear to see that for another second.

I slinked around the shrubbery trying to get a good angle to nab the berries without being seen. Each paw step was lighter than the last one as I adjusted to my new body. I was surprised at how lightly I could step. I made every effort to make no sound with a lot of success. The spearow was absentmindedly clawing at the dirt with one of its talons so sneaking behind it wasn't so hard. I held my breath as I crawled up behind the spearow. As I looked at the berries, a feeling of guilt flared up inside me. I felt bad about stealing from the spearow… but it was for Illu. It had three berries so I carefully picked up two of them in my mouth as gingerly as I could. I handled them like explosives as I sulked back into the shadows.

As soon as one of my paws stepped into the bush, the rustling of the leaves caught the spearow's attention. Its head snapped up and it was immediately alert. It swung its head around to face me and once it saw the berries in my mouth, it went berserk.

"SWWWACCCHH!" it let out a battle cry and out of nowhere, another spearow appeared. It was flying down from one of the trees to answer the call its friend gave out. The two of them were ruffling their feathers for attack and hissing at me.

I put the berries under the bush that gave me away. I cursed my stupidity but readied myself to battle. They charged at me together.

Both of them came at me with fury attack. I knew that the second they had me under them, they would claw and peck at me until I couldn't move. I leapt to the side but they both looped around to charge at me again. When they came this time, I ducked and hit the ground and let them pass over me. When they flew over my head, the reared around again for another attack. I jumped up and as they came and I countered with a tackle attack and managed to head butt one of them right in between the eyes. It tumbled backwards and slammed into the ground.

The second one slashed at my side with an aerial ace that left a gash in retaliation. The pain sent red streaks across my eyes but that wasn't enough to put me down. I charged right at the spearow and landed a good quick attack on it and sent it falling out of the air. When it landed, it fell hard on its back but it forced itself to stand back up.

The first spearow, the one I tackled, was limping towards its comrade. They looked at me with defiant looks and both charged with fury attack again. I dodged to the side again but this time, they were expecting that. They made a sharp left to follow my path and both of their attacks hit me dead on in the back. I crumbled to the ground as their fury attacks kept coming. They repeatedly jabbed me in the back… over and over again until I couldn't see straight.

As I was getting stabbed I thought about Illu. He was off in this nightmare forest in total agony. The thing that could end his suffering was right in front of me and I was letting two spearow hold me back from giving the berries to Illu. Fury rose in my throat as I felt longing to get to Illu. If only I could change my position… If only I could move. I squeezed my eyes shut as the spearow dug their beaks into my back.

_Pop pop chhh… WHOOSSHH! _A feeling of being carried by the wind over whelmed me and a strong gust ruffled my fur. I opened my eyes to see that the spearow were on the other side of the clearing looking very confused. I was still lying down but I quickly scrambled to my paws and without hesitation to face them. Once the spearow realized that we teleported or something, they charged at me again. I held my ground and planted my paws firmly into the ground.

Just as my attackers were on me, I leapt up into the maroon sky. They're reflexes were sharp though and they followed me. In midair, we met. I released my inner Pokemon and kicked up a cloud of dust from the dry dirt. Following my distraction, I felt energy surging though my limbs. I concentrated all of my power into one leap and burst into a quick attack. I collided with one of the spearow as my head dug into its underbelly. I hear it gasp for air and tumble out of the air with a thud.

The second spearow attempted to use whirlwind to clear the already settling dust cloud but it was too late. I wrenched my body with such speed that it caused my muscles to shudder. I used to force of my twist to slam my tail across its head with enough force to move a boulder. The slam left me unbalanced and I landed unevenly on the ground. I stumbled forward and landed flat on my face.

The dust around me settled, leaving my destruction open for anyone to see. I hauled myself into a sitting position and tried to ignore the pain that surged through my back. Both of the spearow lay sprawled out on the forest floor. Feathers and some of my fur was scattered around the clearing making the scene look a little more dramatic. My blood was still wet on the spearow's beaks and talons while blood was splattered on the ground. I couldn't tell whose it was though.

I forced myself to stand but my knees buckled with pain. I fell to the ground hunched over in pain, but that didn't matter. I won against two spearow! In a two to one fight, I proved to be victor! But of course… if it wasn't for that position switcher thing that happened… I would have lost for sure. A small smile crossed my face. _Illu!_ Sudden realization ripped me out of my little victory remorse.

I dashed to the bush where I hid the berries fueled by a new desire to help my friend. I grabbed them both but not without stealing a glance at where the third berry lay. I put down my two berries and walked over to the third. I picked it up with my mouth and brought it over to where the two spearow lay. They would wake up soon. I left the berry in between them sort of as a feeble 'sorry for stealing but I had my reasons' thing. I made my way over to the other two berries and brought them back to Illu trying to ignore my guilt on the way.


	4. Chapter 3: Taiyo

_Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who is reading! I really appreciate it so much! Please, let me know what you think. If your have ideas, constructive criticism, point out a grammar error (not the best at catching those) just PM me, leave a review, or whatever. THANK YOU! =^_^= _

"Sorry it took so long!" I apologized to Illu once I finally found him. Some of the ripped out fur was already starting to grow back and the blood that was dripping like a leaky faucet was only oozing out of some already half formed scabs. "Your cuts sure are healing fast!" I remarked. Not only were Illu's cuts healing fast but he was sitting up now. Most of the fear seemed to leave his eyes and now he only seemed uneasy. When he heard me coming, his head shot up and relief was very evident in his eyes.

"Welcome back!" he said. I inwardly thanked, well whoever, for making sure nothing killed Illu while I was gone.

As I trotted up to him, I placed the oran berries in front of him. The guilt about the spearow was mainly gone. Illu needed the berries. When I looked up at Illu's face after putting the berries in front of him, it was frozen in horror. "W-what happened to you!" Illu's eyes wouldn't leave my back.

"Oh, my back?" I questioned. I craned my neck to look at it. The fur was clumped and ripped and blood stains flecked my coat. The flesh was jagged and torn. It made my stomach lurch just looking at it. I was so excited I had proven myself as a Pokemon; I forgot I was mauled by spearow. I was also so worried about Illu and the pain I caused the spearow that I just dismissed my own pain without even noticing. "Nothing, just eat the berries."

He nudged one of them towards me. "Here," he offered. "My cuts are already healing and your back is nasty. Eat this so I won't have to look at it," he said with a smile. "You brought two so we can share."

"Have you seen your rear end?" I laughed. "Your tail is falling off! You need all the help you can get!" I pushed the berry back at him. I wasn't going to admit it… but I was proud of the battle wound. I had proven to myself that I could survive in this world as I eevee. I was able to hold my own and fight.

"You wouldn't want an infection," Illu continued.

"I'll get it looked at when we get to Treasure Village. You can barley walk so just eat those to hold you over. I've also noticed that we are healing incredibly quickly! It sure takes a lot to keep a Pokemon down." I smiled at him to convince him.

"Treasure Town," Illu corrected. "And I noticed that we were healing very quickly too. It's a little unnatural but it's helping us out right now." Illu nodded his head towards my back. "Your wounds are fresh, so please eat a berry."

I turned away with defiance. "Nope."

"I won't budge unless you eat one of them," Illu's tone was light but firm. I allowed my gaze to flicker back to the berries. Now that I was focusing on it, my back was really sore. I turned away again but only found my eyes returning to the berries. There were _two_, after all.

I gave into my weakness, and I plopped down next to Illu and accepted the berry. Illu offered me a smile and nudged one of the two before my paws. I looked at it on the ground for a moment. Was I supposed to eat it off the floor… or what?

After a while, Illu gave me a questioning stare. "Aren't you going to eat it?" he asked while eyeing the berry. He didn't touch his and was waiting for me to eat mine. It wasn't that I didn't want to eat the berry, I was grateful for it, but I didn't want to tell Illu I didn't know how to eat. It was more that I was afraid of doing something wrong and looking like a half wit slowpoke. I wanted to observe Illu eat first and copy him.

"After you," I gestured.

After staring at me for a moment, he glanced at my berry. "After you."

"Oh no, I insist," I said with a warming smile.

"Oh no, _I _insist."

Silence fell upon the two of us as we waited for someone to go first. I looked away awkwardly and shuffled my paws uncomfortably. "I don't know how I'm supposed to eat, ok?" I mumbled.

Illu shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

Annoyance pricked my fur. "I don't know how I'm supposed to eat," I mumbled a little louder.

"You're talking too quietly!" Illu rolled his eyes. "My ears aren't as good as an Audino's!"

"I DON'T KNOW HOW I'M SUPPOSED TO EAT, OK!" I shouted at him.

It took Illu a moment to comprehend what I just said, presumably because half of his left ear was missing. When it did click with him, he was kneeling over with laughter. The more he laughed, the redder my face got. Could he see me blushing through my fur? "Come on!" I squeaked through my embarrassment. "I haven't even been an eevee for a day!" and when he continued to laugh, I rolled my eyes. "Don't hurt yourself," I muttered under my breath.

Illu gathered himself and his eyes were watering from laughing so much. He struggled to sit up and I couldn't tell if it was from his wounds or from laughing so much. "Didn't you eat as a human?" Illu said with a chuckle.

"Of course I did!" I sighed. "But I only had two legs then! Just show me!"

"You don't eat with your legs!" Illu howled.

"Just show me!" I snapped.

Illu nodded and his shoulders still shook from laughing as he bent down to the berry and opened his mouth. I watched with intensity as I learned how to be a Pokemon. "First, one must approach the food. Then one must open one's mouth and place it around the food." To make his lesson more meaningful, he demonstrated. "This next step is tricky, you must close your mouth around the food and use your teeth to-"

"I know how to take a bite!" I snapped. "I'm fine from here, I just didn't know if I was supposed to bend down and eat it off the ground."

With a snicker, Illu sat up to face me. "What did you think you ate it off of?"

"Well," I began with my voice trailing, "Humans have round dishes that they put their food on… I can't remember what they're called though, but anyway, my back stings. Come on healing berry! Work your magic!" I bent down to take a large bite out of the berry. It was a mixture of every flavor. I couldn't decide if it was sweet or sour, spicy or bitter… It was hard and left a satisfying crunch. I liked it.

When I looked up from my berry, I saw Illu was eating his too and was still chuckling to himself over my ignorance. I looked down at my half eaten berry. Its effects were already starting to kick in and the pain in my back was dulling. I smiled. _I guess being a Pokemon won't be so bad after all…_

**West Woodlands F4**

As we marched on through the distorted forest, things became a little easier as we got our bearings. Pokemon continued to attack us but we were much more on guard and so they rarely got us. Our wounds were healing very quickly, faster than they normally would but we also were starting to notice huger pains coming up faster than they normally would. The berries we ate were enough to tie us over though. The stairs were found in more and more obscure places. The third one was carved into the side of a tree. When we first found them, I wasn't even sure if they were really there or if it was a mirage or something, but it did lead us to the next section.

"I wonder how many more stairs we'll have to find before we get to Treasure Town," Illu mused.

I didn't respond. I was gazing at the sky through the eyes of this odd fold in some sort of sub-reality. Taking a moment to take all this in, I closed my eyes. _I'm really a Pokemon… This is really happening…_

"You know, you really should come up with a name for yourself," Illu commented, jerking me out of my daydream. "It just wouldn't feel right calling you 'Eevee' because you're a human and all."

I thought about it for a moment. "What about Sky or something?" I suggested.

Illu laughed. "No way! You're not a flying-type pokemon!"

"Well what ideas do you have?" I asked while looking up at the sky again. The maroon colors seemed to be fading into a light blue, hopefully indicating we were near the end.

For a moment, Illu hesitated. I turned to face him as he gazed into my eyes trying to some up with a name. When he finally decided to speak, he took a deep breath. "From my hometown… the word taiyo is another word for sun," Illu said with a twinge of nostalgia. He had such a faraway look in his eyes, like his mind was somewhere else. "When I first met you, the impression you gave was one of radiance… Like a brightly shinning star." Illu looked up at me. I could feel the shock on my face. The question of if he could see my blushing through my fur arose again.

"Taiyo." I thought about it for a moment. "Taiyo," I repeated like I was getting a feel for this new word. My name. I smiled to myself and I saw Illu's face light up too. "Nice to meet you," I grinned. "My name is Taiyo."

Illu smiled back as though he was relived I liked the name. "My name is Illusions."

A sudden screech split the air making me jump in surprise. I scrutinized the area to find what made the sound and suddenly a hoppip and rattata jumped out of a tree, landing squarely in front of us. Illu took a battle stance and growled at the attackers. He looked up at me with a comforting smile. "Ready for this, Taiyo?"

I nodded and got into my own battle stance with confidence burning through my spirit. I was no longer nameless. I was Taiyo. "Ready."

**Deep West Woodlands **

Illu landed gracefully beside me as he jumped off the last step. Behind us, the stairs faded again, leaving behind no trace of their existence. I took a step forward into this new floor of the forest but… something was different.

"For some reason this place doesn't seem to be the same as before," I observed. The trees were still discolored and the air still carried the air of duplicity it had before… but something was off. I looked upward at the sky. The maroon was nothing more than a shadow but it was still clearly there. We must've been right at the edge of the distorted forest.

"You're right…" Illu examined all the trees for a moment. Suddenly, his face lit up with realization. "I get it!" Illu exclaimed. "Everywhere before was like a maze, but here it's like a clearing! And look over there!" Illu ran up to the edge of the clearing, where the trees got thick again, but I noticed that this was an open clearing as Illu was saying it. I ran up to him, hardly believing my eyes.

The trees right on the edge of the clearing had sunlight filtering through the leaves. The trees were normal colored and the grass was lush and soft. Fruit hung from all the trees and flowers dotted the landscape. As opposed to the wasteland we stood in, there the sky was a visible blue with a vibrant feeling of hope. Moss was growing all along the ground and on the roots of the countless trees. There were Pokemon who passed right by, not even noticing us. Starly and buneary, all kinds of Pokemon just passed us by like we were invisible ghosts, but there it was free of this curse.

"Wow!" I breathed. "I-is that the edge?" I could hardly believe it.

Disbelief hung in Illu's voice. "We made it… We _made_ it!" Illu turned to face me, tears of joy streaming down his face. It took me a second to realize it, but I was crying to joy too.

"Let's cross the border," I used the back of my paw to wipe away my tears. "Together."

Illu jumped up and cheered with out of pure delight. "Onward to Treasure Villi- wait, Town! Let's move it!"

I stood close to Illu. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. In perfect sync, we both placed our front right paws over the boarder. I felt a cold gust of wind fling itself through my fur, forcing my eyes open. I hopped fully across the line with Illu by my side. I whipped around to see the world we were held captive by vanish like sand blowing against the wind. Faster than falling, the world disappeared into nothingness. Warmth from my attainment quickly spread creating a feeling of being content. I glanced over at Illu who could hardly contain his joy. We were alive. We made it out of that hellhole.

**Treasure**** Town**** Outskirts**

Nudging Illu on the shoulder, I laughed and held up my paw. He gave me a quizzical look as though he didn't know what he was supposed to do with it. I have him a reassuring smile. "You put your paw against it. It's a high five. It means good job!" I explained. "It's a human thing," I quickly added to appease his confused stare.

Illu curiously lifted his paw and gingerly placed it against mine. I shrugged. "Close enough."

We put our paws down and awkwardly held each other's eyes for a moment. "That was really corny, wasn't it?" I laughed when I realized how lame the high five thing was.

Illu smirked at me. "You said it."

Laughing, we turned away from the world that dispersed into the sky. Instead, we placed our gazed forward. "Ready to lead to way to Treasure Village?" I asked Illu with a nudge. "Just make sure you get it right this time."

"I know where we are now," Illu said with relief to finally have his bearings.

"Better hurry up," I joked. "Your tail looks like it's about to fall off and we're out of oran berries."

_And so… With a hop in our step, feeling like we could conquer the world, we made our way to Treasure Village- _

"It's TOWN you slowpoke!" Illu snapped.

_…_


	5. Chapter 4: Treasure Village

_Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who is reading! It really means a lot. Please don't hesitate to review or PM me or whatever. Thank you!  
_

When we finally made it to Treasure Village, I was surprised. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I had more of a city image. Treasure Village was, well, a village. It was like a very primitive town but it was alive with activity. I couldn't help but wonder if Pokemon or people came up with the idea of building houses first but the Pokemon houses were a little on the oddball side.

Most of the houses seemed to be shops but there was a decent amount of houses too. The houses held more resemblance to human homes. They were mainly built out of bamboo tied together with grass or some vines with an open area that was presumably the door. The shops were much more elaborate works of art. The stores were built to be shaped like Pokemon. There was a Daycare with an Audino running it out front although the Daycare was in the shape of a Chansey. It seemed to be falling apart with age though. Another building run by a Duskull in the shape of a Duskull caught my eye. He was accepting money from an angry looking Zebstrika so I presumed it was a bank.

Trees grew all along the outskirts of town that eventually faded out into a forest. The path that ran through the town was yellow cobblestones that were cracked with time and weathered by generations of footsteps. The pleasant summer weather made everything feel so at ease. Many Pokemon were scattered throughout the town, but an air of passing edge was tussled by the wind. It was like everyone was expecting something but no one was sure what it was.

I couldn't help but notice a vibrant building shaped like a Kecleon. Out front, two Kecleon were working. One of them was purple while the other was green. The purple one caught my eye. When our gazes met, his eyes widened in shock and he turned to his brother. The purple one began hitting the green one to get his attention.

Angrily, the green one whipped around. The second they made eye contact, the purple one began frantically pointing at me. The green one looked over at me and our eyes met. Just like the purple one, his eyes widened in shock wider than the first. I awkwardly turned to Illu and tapped him on the shoulder with my tail.

Hardly slowing up, Illu spoke. "Yeah? What's wrong? Did you see a store you like?"

"Wait up a second," I said while allowing my gaze to flicker to the Kecleon. When Illu turned around I nodded toward the Kecleon shop. "Can we go over there for a second? Those Pokemon keep looking at me weird. I-I think they know me."

Illu looked over at them for a moment. I didn't miss his beat of hesitation. "Why don't we go over there after we heal up our wounds?"

I looked back at the Pokemon before turning to Illu. "I guess you're right. Lead the way!" I added on a happy smile to show him I was ok with his choice.

I turned my attention back to the Pokemon who were out and about. I saw three Mightyena who were calling themselves Team Poochy the Second when we introduced ourselves to them. Speaking to a female Marowak in front of a brand new Marowak shaped building I saw a very old looking Azumarill. I eavesdropped a little and overheard the Azumarill telling the Marowak about his older brother. I also noticed some sort of boot camp dojo run by a Machoke who was training a small Sunkern to use bullet seed.

A lot of Pokemon gave me odd looks when I passed by as though I was some sort of cursed omen. The brave few who said a brief hello to Illu gave me looks like they didn't know what to make of me. _Maybe it's because Illu is all injured and I am too… Wait a second… _I looked up at Illu. His injuries were healing fast but they were still gruesome. This town really seems like the kind of place where the Pokemon would ask if he was alright. The air gave a sense of knowing, as though everyone knew everyone, but these Pokemon looked like they've never seen Illu before… _That's weird, doesn't he live here?_

I shook it off and looked up at Illu who was noticing the odd looks I was getting. "Illu," I asked, breaking him out of his daze. "Where is Chatot?"

Illu jumped and gave a squeak of fright. "Oh sorry," Illu looked away as soon as he met my gaze. "Never mind. But we'd have to go to Soul Union to see Chatot."

"Are you alright?" I gave him a reassuring smile to let him know I was here for him. When he gave me a little nod and a fake smile, I decided not to push it.

. . .

Just on the outskirt of town, up a large flight of stairs… is Soul Union. The guild left me speechless. I was so inspired by awe, I couldn't find my words. In front of the door, there was a hole. It looked very deep and no light could be seen coming out of it. Covering it were bamboo grates tied together with grass. It looked very sturdy, like I couldn't fall through even if I wanted to. The door itself was round and light blue, like the sky reflecting off the ocean. In the center of the door, I saw a crystal-like object. It was shaped like a tear drop with the fading sunlight getting caught in its deep luminescent glow. Beside the door, there were two torches with endless fire burning to light it up, casting lone shadows on the wall. It outlined every detail of the building, shadowing and highlighting every inch. The guild was built in the shape of a square with red and yellow vines creeping up the sides. It was made out of what appeared to by hardened clay of some sort but in the center, there was a large funnel, like a volcano. At the mouth of the volcano, ivy and long vines were climbing out. They spilled over the sides of the volcano and hung, draped all around the edges. Hanging above the hole of the volcano, there was a ball of light unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was almost like a mini sun, hanging, suspended above the mountain's mouth. It bobbed up and down with a rhythm and a soft sound came form it, like wind chimes being brushed by the breeze.

"Woah," I breathed. "This is Soul Union! It's so… It's so… I-I don't have any memories to compare it to!" This place… I just felt like it was where I belonged. I belonged in Soul Union.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected! Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" a voice called out of nowhere. I looked ahead of me to see Illu standing on the bamboo grate hole. I was staring at the ball of light so I didn't notice him walk over. Someone must have been at the bottom of that hole… identifying his footprint? _I wonder what they do for Pokemon like Duskull. They don't have a footprint._ "The footprint is Zorua's! The footprint is Zorua's!"

"Is there someone else with you?" the voice from below shouted. The hole gave their voice an echo which made them sound intimidating.

"Umm, yeah," Illu awkwardly replied to the Pokemon in the hole.

"Well put'um up there!" it angrily growled.

Illu gingerly stepped of the grate. Turning at face me, Illu encouragingly nodded his head towards the hole when he saw my doubt. I walked up to the grate and looked at it for a moment. _I wonder if those grates will tickle my feet…_ I took two more steps and found myself standing squarely upon the hole.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected! Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" it bellowed from below. There was a pause… that went on… and on. I could hear faint whispers from the bottom of the hole. They gradually got louder as the ones whispering gradually forgot they were supposed to whisper. There was a sudden silence.

I looked over to Illu for help but he looked just as confused at me. I peered through the grates to see what was going on. I squinted but it wasn't enough to pierce the darkness. "Is everything ok down there?" I called. "If you don't know my footprint, I'm an eevee."

"I know that!" the voice called up to me. In response, I heard another Pokemon whisper-yell at him in response. "Whatever!" the footprint Pokemon snapped at the one whispering. "Open the doors!" it called to someone.

With a merciless screech, the door slowly inched its way open. I didn't notice it before but the hinges in the door were crumbling even as the door was opening. It didn't fit the building. At a cursory glance, it seemed so magnificent and infallible but upon closer inspection, anyone could tell creaky door hinges weren't the only problem.

Together, Illu and I stepped up to the door. Just before we walked in, a Pokemon seemed to appear right in front of us, blocking our way. Soundlessly, it questioned us, demanding our business at this estate. Before me, all I saw was a flash of white fur with a red streak. I craned my neck to look into the eyes of the one who denied my access to the guild. It was a very tall Pokemon that was about four feet tall. It had a feline like face, although it stood on its hind legs. Its two long ears were perked and alert. The one on the left was splashed with the same red as the jagged stripe across its chest. The Pokemon's front paws were also dipped with red and two long, intimidating claws erupted at each paw. Recognition flashed across my mind. It was a Zangoose and it was giving me a death stare. Just like the ones I got in Treasure Village, although this Pokemon wasn't making any effort to hide it.

I respectfully dipped my head. "Excuse our intrusion, but may my friend and I speak with Chatot?" I asked in the most humble voice I could manage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Illu looked at me then hasily copying my show of respect.

After a long, awkward pause of death, the Zangoose grunted with a trace of scorn. "What are your names?" its voice was rough and harsh. It made me a bit sad. His voice was the fruit of growling so often that he forgot how to use his regular voice.

I took a step back so I could look him in the eye without holding my head at a ninety degree angle. "My name is Taiyo," I flicked my tail to Illu. "My friend is called Illu." I thought about requesting his name when he didn't say it, but it seemed a little rude so I left it.

Wordlessly, the Zangoose looked behind him. He motioned his head towards us while keeping an eye on me out of the corner of his eye. I heard a cracked, distorted bird call of some sort, and right into our line of vision, a very, very, old Chatot limped. His head was shaped like a music note but instead of being solid black, some wrinkled pink flesh was exposed where there were no feathers. His collar of white feathers sagged and some were falling out even as he walked. All over his body, there were some very predominant signs of almost perturbing old age. Walking, or even standing seemed to take a lot of effort but yet he held an urbane demeanor. When our gazes met, something changed within me. It was like déjà vu.

"Hello!" he croaked with a fake smile. "What ever you're selling we don't want any," he ended his sentence with a serious tone of dismissal.

Illu and I exchanged glances. We were both thinking the same thing. Of course we wanted to ask Chatot about our forest experience, but the Zangoose was making it pretty unconformable. I looked back at Chatot, not sure where to start.

"We aren't selling anything. Taiyo and I were in the woods and the woods were… Altered, distorted. They weren't normal," Illu's gaze wandered from Chatot to Zangoose. I shifted my paws uncomfortably. "We just would like some information about what was wrong with the forest."

A grave look appeared on Chatot's face and doubt shadowed in Zangoose's eyes but Chatot was the one who spoke. "Forgive my sudden interrogation, but was the forest discolored?"

I hardly had to think about it. An image of the maroon sky flashed across my brain. Illu and I nodded together with a collective, "Yes."

"Were the Pokemon ruthlessly attacking?" Chatot's eyes found our injuries. "And that would explain your wounds?"

"Yes," we nodded again. I had almost forgotten about my wounds until he mentioned them.

"Did the forest appear to be like a maze? Never the same the next time you looked at it?" Chatot's voice was etched with panic.

Sensing his unease, I nodded a little more hesitantly. "Yes."

"Did the forest seem to have 'floors' with stairs to get to each new level?" Chatot looked away, unable to face our inevitable yes.

"Yes," I flatly responded.

The atmosphere had changed and Illu and I suddenly became the bearers of bad news. Zangoose looked at us in disbelief. He shook his head and looked over at Chatot who was pacing or something but he could hardly move and I bit my lip trying to suppress a giggle despite the gravity of the apparent gravity of the situation.

"Mystery Dungeon," Chatot finally spoke with gravity.

Zangoose's eyes were closed as he tried to take it all in. Illu and I exchanged confused looks. "I'm sorry," Illu asked Chatot. "What did you say?"

With sudden rage, Chatot glared at us with fury burning in his glassy eyes. "You were in a Mystery Dungeon!" he snarled. "And you're lucky to be _alive_!"

I recoiled at his sudden outburst but he wasn't done yet. "Take me to where ever it was you were!" Chatot demanded and Zangoose gave Chatot a questioning look. When I didn't respond, unsure how to answer, Chatot yelled again. "Come on! I'm not getting any younger!"

_Damn right you're not…_ I held my tongue. I slinked away form Chatot's fierce glare and fell in line with Illu who was already leading them to the forest.

The whole way across town and to the forest, I wondered if Zangoose and Chatot thought I didn't notice them giving me odd looks and whispering…


	6. Chapter 5: A New Life

_Author's Note: Sorry for the delayed update! I've really been working on the cover, but I have... very limited art skills. Anyway, I'm really happy to be back on track and thank you so much to everyone who is reading!_

Illu and I lead on, through the town again and off to the forest where we fought for our lives. When we were at the edge of the trees, I was a little reluctant to go in. Maybe it could be that I didn't want to get lost again, or perhaps I was afraid of seeing the spearow I stole from…

"I don't see anything," Chatot impatiently snapped.

"It was a little deeper into the forest," I assured him.

"Then why did you stop walking!" Chatot swatted the back of my head with surprising strength. I cursed him under my breath and trotted on, leaving my fears behind.

. . .

Getting lost in the cursed section of the forest had been a complete accident… Now that we were actually trying to find the distorted part of the woods, it was proving to be a tolling task. I could tell we weren't in the 'Mystery Dungeon' or whatever it was called and I was exhausted. The cut on my back was healed over by now but a furless scar in the shape of an x remained. Illu was missing part of his ear but the gashes were closing up along with the rest of his wounds. Pokemon have incredible recovery time.

The sun was starting to set in the sky and I was losing all hope of ever finding the Mystery Dungeon, but with that came relief that I wouldn't have to brave it through that thing twice in one day. Silence hung in the air around us with tangible tension. I could practically feel Chatot's temper with us at wasting what little time he had left. Not surprisingly Chatot was the one who broke the silence. "Do you know where it is or NOT!" Chatot squawked.

Irritation chilled my blood. I whirled around to face Chatot with a huge load to get off my chest. "Look," I snapped. "Illu and I are falling apart and we just barley crawled out of that hellhole! You think we wanted to spend all day wandering the forest with you looking for some torture chamber! The least you could do is not yell at us!"

Chatot remained expressionless for a while, but then something totally unexpected happened. Chatot smiled, not only that he laughed, like a maniac! He started uncontrollably laughed at me. I took a step back in shock at his reaction. Even Zangoose seemed a little unnerved. "W-what's so funny?" I stammered.

When Chatot gathered himself, he looked at me with a sort of respect that caught me so far off my guard. "Hee-hee!" he laughed. "You remind me so much of someone I used to know! She had quite the tongue too!"

I exchanged glances with Illu, a small glimmer of hope fluttering in my chest… _Could it be? Did I know Chatot? But that's impossible… _

"No point in wandering around anymore," Chatot assessed quite suddenly. "Let's go back to Soul Union."

. . .

Towards the end of our journey, anticipation swelled in my chest making it hard to breathe. I was so nervous about what would happen to me. I was probably going to end up sleeping in the forest alone. I tried to formulate a plan in my head but nothing seemed to be floating to the top. _Ok, I'm an eevee who was previously human… I have no memories at all, and I only woke up this morning… Woah, was that really only this morning?_

A light breeze sailed across the x-shaped scar on my back and made me shiver. Illu was probably going to go back to whatever life he lived before he stumbled upon me, and Chatot and Zangoose have no use for me… Suddenly, an idea stuck me like lightening. What were they training Pokemon for at the guild? Could it be something that pertains to me? Soul Union… It has to be good. Zangoose was less than a foot in front of me. The edge of the forest was in view but daylight was becoming scarce. The more I thought about asking him about Soul Union, the more nervous I became. _The worst he can say is nothing._

"So, uh, Zangoose," I began. "What do you, umm, you know, train Pokemon for in Soul Union?" I cursed my klutzy use of words.

"Axel," Zangoose said without even turning around. "My name is Axel."

_UGH! Great, he totally changed the subject! _I forced a smile. "Really? Sorry, but you didn't mention your name when we first met." When Axel didn't respond, I forced the subject back to Soul Union. "So what does Soul Union train Pokemon for?"

"Soul Union is a guild. We train Pokemon to be on exploration teams," Axel said curtly.

Inwardly, I sighed. I was completely ignorant to the ways of this world. What is an exploration team? I hesitated to ask Axel another question at the risk of sounding stupid or disrespectful. Axel had such an aura of silent dignity that I felt the obliged to heed. Maybe alone in the woods was where I belonged…

"Is that all you train Pokemon to do?" I inquired, just trying to keep conversation going.

"There are many factors that go into training a Pokemon for an exploration team. Standards have been raised since Wigglytuff's Guild went under," Axel replied with a surprising amount of words. "Exploration teams are no longer just exploration teams."

Sensing an opportunity to learn about exploration teams without admitting I didn't know what they were, I leapt at it. "Really? What have the standards been raised to?"

Axel never turned around or slowed his brisk walk. "You ask a lot of questions."

Some part of me realized that he probably knew I had no idea what I was talking about. Before I could respond, we walked past the last few trees of the West Woodlands. Treasure Village was sprawled out before us in the blue light of the last slips of the sun's rays. Collectively, we all came to a stop and turned to face each other. This was it. We would go our separate ways now. All of us stood in a circle, not knowing what to say. Chatot was the one to speak first.

"Thank you both for reporting your experience in the West Woodlands," Chatot's gaze went from me to Illu. "It is crucial that any Mystery Dungeon mishaps are reported immediately so thank you for your cooperation.

"Very well then," Chatot nodded to us both. "And good night." And so, without another word, Chatot, followed closely by Axel made their way through town and over to Soul Union. I noticed all of the shops were packing up for the day, retreating with the setting sun.

When Chatot and Axel were out of sight, I turned to Illu. We have already been through quite a lot together and we haven't even known each other for a day. I had a sense like I was already close friends with Illu but maybe that was only because I didn't know anyone else. I shuffled my paws uncomfortably. "Well," I half-mumbled. "I guess this is good-bye."

Illu's eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't make out in the dark. "Where will you go?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, but I can't stay here in Treasure Village. Everyone thinks I'm evil or something. All those looks I was getting… It was pretty unnerving. What about you? Don't you have a house around here or something?"

For a second, Illu held back. "Well, I'm actually not from Treasure Town. I'm only here for some… business."

"Really? What kind of business?" My thoughts flashed back to the way the Pokemon native to Treasure Village looked at Illu. They didn't seem to know him but I let it slide by then.

"I'm looking for someone who disappeared a while ago… I heard that they might be here in Treasure Town but I'm not sure. It's been so long since I've seen them…" Illu looked away. The full darkness of night was upon us and Illu's face was completely shadowed from my sight. I decided not to push the subject anymore.

"I see," I said with sympathy. I wondered what it would be like to lose someone that I was close to. Would I go looking for them too? Would they look for me? "So where will you go?" I gently asked.

Illu held my gaze. I could see the faint glow of his green eyes even in darkness. With a slight chuckle, he answered "I don't know."

For some reason I smiled. "So we're both homeless?" I couldn't help but laugh at how neither of us made any effort to prevent this from happening.

"Well then," Illu concluded. "Neither of us has anywhere to be so, let's team up!"

I nodded. "Definitely! We'll be indomitable!"

"Wait, Taiyo!" Illu jumped up with excitement. "Let's form an exploration team! I always wanted to be on one and now we even have connections! Soul Union is a guild that trains Pokemon to become exploration team members!"

Exploration team… That word again. "Oh yeah," I mused upon my conversation with Axel. "Axel did mention something about that… What is an exploration team?"

"Sorry," Illu said. "I keep forgetting your human. Exploration teams are groups of Pokemon who take on jobs and help out the fellow Pokemon around them. They can take down outlaws or retrieve lost items and other silly requests. But they also explore faraway lands and find treasure that we can't even imagine! It's always been a dream of mine to join one but I never thought I would!"

"Oh, another question," I interrupted. "What is Wigglytuff's Guild?"

"I don't know much about it… But Soul Union is built on top of the ruins of Wigglytuff's Guild. Chatot used to be in Wigglytuff's Guild too…" Illu's voice trailed off for a moment. "Oh yeah! I remember now, it was taken over and destroyed by the Daughter of Darkness."

"The Daughter of Darkness?" I pondered on those words. They were so achingly familiar.

"Oh Taiyo!" Illu complained, shattering my train of thought. "I can't see a thing! We really should find shelter soon. It's getting cold too!"

"Do we want to do this exploration team thing?" I said as I was looking in the direction of Soul Union. It seemed impulsive to just do this on a whim but I felt so strongly about it being right. The thought of Illu and I being on an exploration team together just sent a shiver of excitement down my spine.

"Let's do it!" Illu cheered and I joined in. With our paw steps in sync, we bound towards our new lives… In Soul Union.

. . .

Somewhere faraway, across even the boundaries of time, there was a being who was laying in wait… watching… for the Daughter of Darkness to resurface. Like sand through an hourglass, she slipped away from this world. She had fallen through one sense of existence to the next, where the only way to tell the difference was through light. For darkness is not a thing like light. Darkness is only where light is not. For the Daughter of Darkness to be touched by light, would mean that something filled the void and the darkness would be no more.

But this being could not allow this. It was going to bring her back and rip the light out of her soul. Even if it had to take the light from every last creature in all existences, the Daughter of Darkness was going to come crawling back, begging for clemency.


	7. Chapter 6: Welcome to Soul Union!

_Author's Note: Sorry for the delayed update! I've really been putting a lot into this chapter! It's one of my longer ones. Thank you SO much to everyone who is reading and reviewing and following. I really appreciate it, you have no idea! Feel free to PM me for suggestions or whatever and review! =^_^=_

**Soul Union**

"Should I step on the grate?" I asked Illu. The two of us were standing before Soul Union with the light from the mythical yellow orb of light illuminating the scene. Under the flickering light, I noticed the bamboo grate covering the hole that went down further than I could my eyes could view. I could see light slipping out through the bottom of the round door at the main entrance and the faint whisper of voices coming from inside.

"I guess so," Illu replied while peering at the grate from behind me. "How else will they know we're here?" I stepped on it, but not as gingerly as last time. The voice that bellowed at Illu and I earlier didn't call up to me immediately. I rolled my eyes and looked over at Illu.

"Pass me a rock," I nodded my head towards some of the gravel that was scattered on the rocky cliff Soul Union was built into. Without even questioning me, he retrieved me one and placed it in front of me. I nodded for thanks and lifted the rock and placed it in between one of the openings in the grate. It slipped through quite easily.

_One… Two… Three… Fo- _and the echoed sound of the rock hitting the stony ground below rang loud and clear through my ears. The faint buzz of voices that could previously be heard stowed their gab. Not a sound was made until I felt miniscule pulses of footsteps through the ground followed by hasty whispers.

Out of thin air, right before me, a Misdreavus materialized. It seemed to have distinct female qualities. The apparition was glaring at me with her yellow and red eyes that were narrowed with fury. Wordlessly, she demanded my business.

While holding her glare, I spoke. "I was here earlier today. I accompanied Chatot and Axel to West Woodlands. I need to speak with them again as soon as possible."

"What's your name?" she spat at me. Her voice was female but oddly gruff.

"Taiyo," I simply replied.

Illu took a place up beside me. "My name is Illusions but just call me Illu."

The Misdreavus rolled her eyes to Illu. "Alright, alright, I don't need your life story." I exchanged uneasy glances with Illu. Misdreavus looked at me expectantly. When I didn't respond, unsure what she wanted from me, she snapped at me to get off the grate. I took at uneasy step back and watched her hover over the hole.

"Chatot!" she called.

"Zeal?" Chatot croaked from below. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah," Zeal looked over at Illu and I. "A female eevee named Taiyo and a male zorua named Illu wanna talk to you." Looked back at the grate she continued, "Should I let them in?"

"Very well," Chatot responded with a bit of a huff. Zeal then flew over to the round door. It glowed with a purple energy and that radiated off in wisps of color. Zeal was using her physic energy to open the door. I held my breath, almost expecting her to turn her energy on me. The sky blue door slowly creaked open with a great amount of force.

Zeal lead Illu and I to the door. I tried not to let my nerves show but Soul Union seemed to be a place of high glory with such a sense of respect. _Will everyone be as scary as Axel?_

The second Illu and I stepped over the door and entered Soul Union, the doors snapped shut with a loud slam that echoed through the building. We were in a room of some sort, although it was rather small and it was shrouded in darkness's cloak. There was a draft coming from somewhere that sent a chill through my already shaking body. I could sense Zeal hovering in front of me and I stepped closed to Illu for security.

"I can't see a thing…" I muttered.

"Illu," Zeal spoke. She was almost whispering and her voice carried great urgency. "Step away from the eevee."

"What?" Illu questioned. "Why?"

"Just do it!" Zeal snapped back. "There's something I don't understand…" her voice trailed into a whisper as though she was only speaking to herself. Illu hesitated and nudged my shoulder to say he was sorry and took a step back.

Once Illu stepped aside there was a blinding flash of light that left me too stunned to react. "Taiyo!" I heard Illu calling for me and I tried to take a step towards him but I lost all sense of direction and could not find him.

The light passed on and left behind a heavy silence. "Illu!" I called out into the darkness. "Illu!"

"Relax!" Zeal snapped with scorn. "Your friend passed my test. He's been let into Soul Union's main building where everyone else is."

The way she said 'your friend' aroused suspicion. Then I realized something. I had not passed her test. She was the gatekeeper or something for Soul Union.

With a grunt, Zeal flew right in my face. Although I couldn't see her, I could sense her presence and that was more powerful than seeing her. "Answer truthfully; your life might depend on it." Zeal laughed to herself and flew around the room for a second before turning her attention back to me. "Where are you from?" she demanded very forcefully.

Of course, with my amnesia I had no idea. "I'm from the West Woodlands," and that wasn't entirely false. That was where I woke up.

"Oh yeah," Zeal challenged. "That's pretty close to here. I've never seen you around."

"I don't lie," I firmly defined.

"So then, where are you _really_ from?" Zeal was toying with me and it was really annoying me. Zeal knew she was on top too and all I wanted to do was tail-slap that smug look I couldn't see off her face.

"West Woodlands." I simply said.

Still clearly unconvinced, Zeal moved onto the next question. "What are you?"

_Could she know I'm a human!_ Adrenaline rushed through me so fast it was painful. _How could she know!_ "I'm an eevee," I responded with a bit of a shaky tone.

"Since you're just a cutesy little eevee living in the West Woodlands and all, you must have heard the latest news then," Zeal's tone was haunting me.

"Well you know," I held back for a second as I pieced together my response. "I'm always the last to know everything out of my friends so I guess I haven't heard!" I put on a fake smile and was very proud of my beautiful excuse.

"The Daughter of Darkness…" Zeal dangled the words right in front of me. "Does that name ring a bell?"

I nodded. Finally, one question I knew. "Illu mentioned her earlier before. I don't know very much about her though. Only that she took down Wigglytuff's Guild." Relief was evident in my voice.

"Yes, she murdered Wigglytuff and burned the guild. Chatot will tell you all about it," Zeal said with sudden bitterness. Zeal shook off her pain and continued with her story. "Anyway, the point is, she's missing."

I was still trying to get over the fact that a Pokemon was killed let alone the fact that the killer was loose. "She's missing!" I didn't have to act for this one. "How could she be missing if she killed another Pokemon! Isn't she in jail or something!"

"You have amnesia."

That one caught me off guard. "A-amnesia? What are you talking about?" I stammered.

"You know nothing about the Daughter of Darkness. She lives in the World of Darkness and she's killed way more than one Pokemon. She's disappeared from her World though and everyone is going crazy over it." Zeal explained. When she saw my blank stare, she rolled her eyes. "I'm not a very good teacher am I? Sorry, but ask Chatot when you go inside. He'll tell you that kind of thing." Zeal concluded her monologue.

"You mean I've passed your test! I can go in!" I said trying not to sound too relieved.

"Sorry about all that before but I can't let anyone in unless I'm sure they're safe. There's something very, very off about you though." Zeal continued to examine me. "You don't seem like a bad Pokemon though, there's just a sense of… foreboding or premonition hanging over your head…"

_Could that be why I'm getting all these looks?_ "What do you mean?" I struggled with the concept. "Do you think it's a bit how when I met Axel, I immediately sensed his air of dignity even though I know nothing about him? Do I have an air of… danger?"

Zeal thought about my analogy before responding. "That's a good way to put it." After an awkward silence, Zeal spoke again. "Well, I'm sure it's nothing. Let's go into the guild!"

For a moment, my vision was stolen by a light so bright it blinded me. A strong gust kicked up and I could feel my fur whipping around my body like a leaf carried by a storm. I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for… I don't know what I was expecting. Time was dragged to a slower pace by this new energy but the sensation didn't last long. Soon I found my fur falling into place and that was followed by utter silence.

When I dared to open my eyes, I found myself in an entirely new room. It took me a second to piece together what happened, but I realized that Zeal and I must have teleported. I looked at my new surroundings and I was astounded at the inside of Soul Union. The inside of the building had a warm and cozy feeling. The room I was in very large and spacious with an open feeling. It was an uneven circle shape with only two ways out; to the left down some hallway and the right down another. The walls were made of wooden panels but also of rock that ran along the bottom. There was one large window that was very close to the roof. I had to crane my neck to look up at it. The window was about one seviper long all the ways around in the shape of a circle with a dark chestnut wooden frame. Two blocks of wood of the same color crossed in the center like a sort of protection. A salty sea breeze floated in through the window and the dark night was on display for anyone to view. The ground was dusty dirt with a few patches of grass here and there and all along the walls, ivy and vines draped into the scene. On the other side of the room, there was a large bulletin board with a ton of papers pinned up so the board itself was hardly visible. Illumination came from softly flickering torches that lined the walls. The fire had a soft crackle to break the silence but yet it somehow intensified it. In the center of the room, about five feet or so in diameter, there was a pond with clear water that reflected the stars from the window. The pond was lined with gray pebbles and seemed to be only a foot or two deep. A ring of grass was formed around it like a target.

I was so in awe of the room, I hardly noticed all the Pokemon gathered around me. Standing right in front of me was Chatot with Axel standing faithfully by his side. Looking intimidated beside the mighty Axel, Illu awkwardly stood, trying to find the best way to carry himself. Behind those three stood a ring of Pokemon, presumably the members of Soul Union. I caught the eye of a baby meowth with adorable wide-eyes. Beside him stood another zangoose, but this one a female with a softer and kinder face the Axel. A chingling and poochyena who were more focused on Zeal than on me where side by side. A powerful looking roserade with a sort of fake smile was evaluating me a little further off. A young hippopotas was craning his neck to see over a female magby who was clearly irritated by a machop who was poking her. A slowpoke stood harmlessly beside them. A graceful swanna with a reassuring smile eased the pain of being surrounded by so many unfamiliar faces; the fear quickly returned at the sight of a broad, nonchalant zebstrika. I avoided eye contact with him and switched my focus to politoed who was huddled beside a long and cheeky looking linoone. A meinshao with a read less expression stood to the side. Everyone was coated with the dim firelight and everyone seemed united. From behind me, Zeal flew past to take her ranks with the members and flew beside the chingling and poochyena. Illu stepped forward to stand at my side.

Together, Illu and I were faced with Soul Union. My heart rate quickly escalated with the nerves. Before I could gather myself to say anything, Chatot spoke. "Taiyo and Illu," he nodded. "So we meet again."

"Thank you for letting us in," Illu said with respect. "We have a request to make."

"Yes?"

"We would like to join Soul Union!" Illu and I said together with one voice. We looked at each other, surprised we said it at the same time.

Chatot mused upon the idea for a moment and the guild members behind him eyes widen in shock. Chatot took a step forward and began walking in a circle around us, evaluating our potential. "The life of an exploration team member is very hard. Training isn't as easy as it used to be."

"We'll accept any challenge!" Illu stately declared. My heartbeats were faster with excitement. I had to force my tail to stop trembling. This is what I was meant to do. I could feel it in my soul, the thing that fabricates my very being.

"Only the strong will survive. Willpower is the only thing that will hold you together," Chatot went on.

"I will never give up!" I said, feeling the fortitude chilling my existence.

"Darkness can alter a person beyond recognition. Will you accede to darkness's demands?" Chatot's head was held high with pride.

"Never!" Illu and I swore.

Chatot's circle was complete. He stood before the two of us now with a special gleam in his eyes. He was proud; he believed in us and saw potential. Gratitude swelled in my chest. "There are many kinds of Pokemon from every ray of light, but all of them have souls nonetheless. Paradise Place, the world in which we live is a coming together of all worlds and a bridge to each. Here, all the elemental worlds are united, even the World of Darkness and the World of Light. Here, all souls are united; here in Soul Union. Do you truly want to be on an exploration team and continue to bond together every walk of life?"

I was too chocked up to speak. Illu and I nodded. Destiny was calling me with a battle cry. With all my soul, I knew this was right. Doubt was no longer a work in my dictionary. I looked over at Illu and felt a sudden rush of affection for my new friend. I had no doubt about him either. Everything was perfect.

"I knew you two would be back," Chatot said while looking down on us. "It is my great honor to welcome you both to Soul Union!"

"Thank you!" I managed to cough out. I nudged Illu with a smile and he nudged me back. I looked over at the other members of the guild, expecting to see… welcoming faces or something.

Every single one of them was looking extremely uncomfortable and was avoiding eye contact with me at all costs. Hushed whispers bubbled up among a few of the Pokemon but I could not hear any of them. The zebstrika was looking at me with such a disgusted expression on his face and the baby meowth was pointing to me while whispering to the female zangoose. The magby was giving me evil eyes that were dripping with unexpected resentment. Even the kind swanna was avoiding my gaze.

Noticing something was amiss, Chatot turned around to see the entire guild giving obvious signs that they didn't want the new members of the guild. "Skwak!" Chatot flapped his wings in shock. "Why are you not happy with my selection in new members!"

The guild members exchanged uneasy glances. It was the zebstrika who stepped up to say something. "Chatot! Why are you playing dumb? There is something obviously wrong with that eevee!" He flung his head over to me and his gaze was fierce as night. I flinched at his sudden fury. He took two steps towards me and was hovering over me as he glared down upon my existence. As I gazed into his blue and yellow eyes, I trembled. "What are you?" he snarled.

"Sage!" Chatot bellowed. "Enough!" Chatot turned to face the entire guild. "Enough all of you! You have no idea who this eevee is and yet you judge her so quickly! This meeting is concluded," Chatot snarled. "Their apprenticeship will be tomorrow morning, be sharp!"

The crowd quickly dispersed and flowed into the halls that were on either side of the room. I guessed that was where the crew rooms where. I took a deep breath and turned to Illu. Chatot and Axel were the only two that remained as all the others left.

When the last voice died down, Chatot spoke. "I apologize for the members of the guild. Since this Daughter of Darkness business, everyone has been very suspicious. I was suspicious of you too but I have decided to trust you."

"Thanks Chatot," I almost whispered. I was still shaking from that zebstrika, what was his name? Sage? Anyway, I was still shaking from what Sage had said. I thought back to all the looks I got in Treasure Village before I even came to Soul Union… I remembered what Zeal had said to me about how she said I had an aura of premonition and how everyone in the guild questioned what I was… Is it because I'm a human? Do they sense it? "What's wrong with me…?"

I noticed Illu exchange worried glances with Chatot and even Axel was showing a flash of compassion. Should I tell Chatot the truth of what I am? He'd probably help me but an image of me getting kicked out into the streets was a little too real to take a chance on. Maybe I could mention that I have amnesia but leave out the human part. Then I could learn a little about this world. I contemplated it a bit but decided to just ask Illu. I trusted him much more than I trusted Chatot.

I looked up at everyone so they wouldn't think I was weak for letting everyone's judgment tear me down. "Thank you Chatot, for letting us join the guild."

"Yes," Chatot said a little quickly. "You two will be assigned mentors in the morning."

I wasn't sure what a mentor was but I didn't want it to look like I joined Soul Union without knowing anything about it. I just added it to my mile long list of questions to ask Illu.

"Not to be rude," Illu smiled apologetically, "but where will we sleep?"

Surprise lit up Chatot's face. "I almost forgot to assign you two a crew room! I guess I'm getting old." Chatot gave a shaky laugh and I was left to wonder what he meant. He cleared his throat and turned to Axel. "Axel, show them to their room."

Axel nodded without much emotion. "There is one room left. Come." Axel began walking to the hall on the right on all fours. I looked at Illu and hurried after Axel with Illu right beside me. Axel was walking very fast and I had to run to keep up with him. When we entered the hallway, it had the same style as the rest of the building. The vines continued to drape through the halls and a few torches illuminated the way. As we walked past, I saw a few doors, each made with wood. All of them were painted differently with ruins on them. I guess whatever team lived in the room decorated it however they pleased. At the end of the hallway, I was a very crummy door. The wood was dull and splintered. Jagged edges jutted out and there was no doorknob and the door was slightly ajar. Dust coated the door as though no one touched it for years.

_That can't be our room!_ Axel stopped walking in front of the door so abruptly that I almost ran right into him. Beside me, I saw Illlu looking disappointedly at the room. "Th-this isn't _ours_ is it?" Illu asked nervously.

Axel chuckled. "Welcome home rookies," and with that, he turned around and made his way back to Chatot silently laughing the whole way.

I looked at the old, almost forgotten door. Part of me wanted to laugh but the other part wanted to cry. I giggled at how ridiculous it was. "Beats sleeping on the streets!"

"Not by much," Illu grumbled.

I nudged his shoulder. "It's not so bad. We'll fix it up later. I bet it's nicer on the inside!" I used one of my long feline-like ears to push open the door. What I was on the other side was pathetic. There were on vines or grass or anything. It just was an old dusty hole with dust so thick that each breath I took was a challenge to hold back a sneeze. There was a small window in the same style as the one in the main room of the guild. The room itself was about 6 or 7 feet in diameter and it was an uneven round shape. In the middle of the floor, there was a dry straw mat that was turning brown with age. Cobwebs from who knows what protruded from nooks in the wall. There were no torches and the only light came from soft silver beams of glittering stars and a cresset moon. Warily, I took a step in. It was very musty and dust was kicked up with each paw step. I made it the center of the room and looked back at Illu who was still frozen at the doorway.

"Welcome to Soul Union! Everyone hates me and we are sleeping in a hole," I laughed. "But somehow, I'm happy. Sorry for sounding mushy, but Illu, I'm so glad I met you!"

My kindness seemed to break Illu out of his daze. He stepped into the room and used his tail to close the door behind him. Even when he pushed it closed, it remained ajar. Giving up at closing it, he shrugged and stepped beside me. "I'm glad I met you too Taiyo." Illu looked around our room and then his gaze fell onto the mat. "Do you want to sleep on the mat?"

I looked at it and shuddered at the brown spots. "No thanks, you can have it."

"I'm not sleeping on it," Illu looked away. He went over beside the window and used his tail to brush away the cobwebs. He curled up with the light of the stars caressing his sleeping figure. "This is pretty cozy," he yawned.

As I watched him yawn, I yawned and felt tears bubbling up in my eyes. "Ugh! Your making me yawn now!" I went over to the other side of the window and brushed away the cobwebs before curling up. My tail covered my face and acted like a pillow of some sort. The second I lay down, exhaustion gripped my body so it almost stung. "Wow! I had no idea how tried I was!"

Illu only responded with his gentle breathing to indicate he was already asleep. I giggled at how cute it was but fatigue was forcing my eyes to close. All of my thoughts eventually blurred as I drifted into sleep, when I realized _holy crap… I only woke up as an eevee this morning!_


	8. Chapter 7: Wigglytuff's Guild

_Author's Note: Ok... Big chapter. I hate it when books take forever to get started so a lot of big events happen in this chapter. Thank you so much everyone! I appreciate it so much! =^_^= don't be shy and review!_

Before me, I saw a building just barley outlined in the night. I recognized the surroundings. I was in the place where Soul Union is, only there was another building in place of where Soul Union normally stands. On either side, there were two totem poles and behind them were two fire pits that were both ablaze. The actual building was in the shape a smiling friendly pink Pokemon. Both of its arms were outstretched like it was jumping for joy or about to give me a hug. It had two eyes with a wooden board going diagonally across each of them. A pink tuft of fur much like Illu's was in the center of its head and both of its long ears were tipped with white. It had a white belly but the image of the Pokemon was cut off just under its smiling mouth. The doorway was closed by steel gates that erupted from the ground. A tent like material with an odd red pattern that ran across its yellow fabric extended from under the smiling Pokemon. It was stretched away from the center and staked into the ground with wooden pegs. In front of the doorway, there was a hole covered by a bamboo grate.

I stepped up to the grate and awaited someone to detect my footprint. Growing impatient from the lack of response, I decided to leave it alone. From behind me, I heard the scuttle of footsteps. When I turned around, I saw a mob of about 20. It was made up of all ghost and dark type Pokemon. I saw a houndoom walking in line with a liepard. Many sableye crowded around and shuppet snickered darkly. All of them had a dark aura around them. It was like they just walked out of black water that was evaporating with wisps of black shadows. Leading them all… was a human. She was tall and strong. She wore black baggy shorts that went down to her knees and had red swirls running up the sides. Her shirt was black with a red belt around her waist. The shirt was a v-neck and she wore an actual rusty chain around her neck. She wore a black cloak with a hood that covered her eyes because she was looking down. The cloak was ripped at the back and it swayed with the night's breeze. Scarlet trickled up the fabric just like her shorts and the part that fastened the cloak together was a skull. No shoes covered her feet and a harsh chain was around her right ankle. It clanked like crunching bones when she walked.

I jumped and scurried behind the totem pole to the right in fear. When the mob made it to the top of the stairs, I shuttered at being so close to them. The girl who led them on stopped walking right in front of the grate. She looked up at the happy pink Pokemon that gazed down upon these unwanted guests. The girl took her hood off and I could clearly see her face. Her eyes were a very clear and bright blue that complimented her brown hair. Her left eye was covered by her short brown hair like a curtain to hide half of her soul. The tips of her hair were scarlet, like it was dipped in blood. The features of her face were soft in their repose as she looked gently at the pink Pokemon in the eye. Just under her right eye, there was a black mark like an upside-down triangle. I stared at it with awe as I wondered what it was from. She turned to face her mini army of dark and ghost type Pokemon. Their eyes held a lust for blood. Each of them was looking hungrily at the guild.

"Welcome," the girl spoke. Her voice was so painstakingly familiar. "This is Wigglytuff's Guild."

My eyes widened in shock. Suddenly it all fit together… Wigglytuff's Guild was burned down by the Daughter of Darkness and Wigglytuff died at her hand too… This girl was the Daughter of Darkness! Fear began to block my vision… Was I about to watch the guild burn? See Wigglytuff die?

"Houndoom!" she called while pointing to the steel bars hat blocked the door. "Bring them down!"

The Houndoom growled and slinked up the gate. Embers fell from his mouth like drool from his appetite for death before he opened his jaw wide enough to release a bolt of flames. The steel bars of the grate were melted to a puddle with awkward bits of steel jutting out around the ground. The impact was followed by an explosive burst of sound like thunder that shook the ground. From inside the guild, I heard a pitiful skwak. _Chatot!_

I dashed out from behind the totem pole and ran right past Houndoom to see Chatot lying right beside a hole with a bamboo ladder sticking out of the hole like Pokemon stairs. Blood was splattered on the rungs of the ladder and Chatot was sprawled out with a small puddle of blood around him. He looked so young and so broken. I heard myself screech as I trembled by his side. I knelt beside him and felt tears slipping out of my eyes. Next to him, there was a fragment of a sign that read 'smiles go for mi-' "Miles," I whispered, surprised at myself for knowing that. I watched in a daze as my soundless tears fell onto Chatot's broken body.

I turned to face the Daughter of Darkness who was petting Houndoom saying, "Nice shot!"

Rage flowed through my veins like a river. I leapt to my feet and stumbled from my shock at seeing Chatot. I stopped walking just before the melted gates. My gaze was raised to challenge the Daughter of Darkness. "I won't let you get past!" I growled with all the strength I could muster.

The Daughter of Darkness turned to face me and I felt my heart skip a beat in fear. She began walking closer to me and stopped only a step away from me. "Get out of here!" I managed to say.

The girl knelt down to my level with a calculating look on her face. She extended her hand to me and I flinched. As I waited for a blow, I realized she only reached out her hand to feel the outside of the gates. When she was standing at her full height, the gates only reached to her bellybutton. "I'll have to crawl through these," she sighed.

"No!" I repeated. "You won't get through!" But the girl took no notice of me. None of them did. The girl turned back to her troops and began giving them instructions.

"Everyone remember the plan?" she said. "Houndoom, you'll be the one who's in charge of fire power. It's up to you to burn this place. And our ghost team…" she said while turning to face the mob of Shuppet and Sableye. "You guys will be in charge of the guild members. Leipard, you guard the gates, and don't let anyone escape. As for me, I'm going for Wigglytuff." The army of Pokemon nodded with malicious snickers of virulent will. The girl turned to face the guild and with a smile she said, "And remember, let NO one live."

The girl and her army took two steps toward the gates and rolled her eyes. "I'm not crawling through these gates. Houndoom, just make a larger door."

As the Houndoom stepped up to the plate I shrieked in fear and ran over to Chatot. "Chatot! Please get up!" I think I was sobbing. Chatot didn't answer me. He lay crippled on the floor without response. I began to nudge him and push him over to the wall where he'd be out of the way of the blast when realization stopped my heart for what seemed like minutes… hours… weeks? As I nudged him with my muzzle, my nose went right through him. I swiped at him with one of my paws and it passed right through his body. I was intangible, existing only in this moment through memory. The Houndoom's battle cry rang through my body. I lunged for the entrance and firmly placed myself right in front of the Houndoom's line of fire.

I forced myself to keep my eyes open. The Houndoom raised his muzzle and when he snapped it back down, ruin was placed on the guild. As soon as the Houndoom opened his mouth, energy was released from the chains it was held in. It thrust itself right at me faster than the speed of sound. The fire was burning so hot it was tinted blue, as though it had a faint reflection of the sky riding on its back. Its truculent nature descended upon the guild like the wrath of Arceus. The second the fire hit the guild, I heard a rumble of what sounded like unbreakable thunder. The ground shook with its force and chunks of the happy pink Pokemon began falling around me like rain, each of them either smoldering or fully ablaze. Pieces from the wall in front of me were expunged from existence. The thought of that happy pink Pokemon still smiling even though it was dying sickened me.

When the blast died down, I noticed that pretty much the entire top of the guild was on fire. There was almost no wall in front of me. All of it was destroyed and the army with its leader was stretched out before me like impending death. Over the roar of the flames, I heard the Daughter of Darkness whistle. "Wow Houndoom," she said while patting him on the head as he trotted over to her, looking especially pleased with himself. "That was insane! Ok everyone; let's make this face before the place crumbles."

With haste, they all charged right at the guild. The hole inside with the ladder that stuck up was their entrance. They all jumped down, slashing the carefully carved bamboo as they went. Some of the ghost types didn't even bother with the hole; they just went right through the ground. They ran right through me as though I wasn't there and I flinched at each of them stepped on me. As they were running past, I looked over to Chatot. He was still a mess on the ground but none of the Pokemon took any notice of him. As the last member of the army descended, I had the sudden urge to follow. Chatot would be safer up here than down there with the massacre... for now.

The only army member who stayed behind was Leipard, but she was already prowling around the perimeter in search of those who tried to escape their fate. Casting one last look at Chatot, I leapt down the hole closely behind the last Pokemon who was a Shuppet.

When I made it to the ground, the inside of the guild was already beginning to crumble. There were two bulletin boards, each of them filled with flyers of job requests. The smoke from the fire was already clinging to the roof of this floor and the ladder was already being devoured by flames. Right beside the hole I just fell from, there was another that led to the floor bellow this one. I noticed two Sableye tormenting a Chimecho. She was cowering in fear as they slashed at her bell mercilessly. With fear she thrashed about and screamed a broken scream with each blow. Blood began to pour out of her like a river and my stomach lurched. Each cry was getting weaker and weaker than the last. I stumbled backward, unable to do anything. I could not cry, scream or run. There was no way for me to help her, only watch her slowly go limp. With one last pitiful tinkle of her bells, her body loosened itself up in a mournful repose. The sableye snickered and moved away from the body. They went over to the hole that lead one floor down and lay in wait for another Pokemon to rush up the ladder. I stumbled over to the Chimecho who reached her end in a torturous fashion. Her body was mangled beyond recognition. Too stunned to do anything else, I just watched her blood as it continued to slow to a trickle. The pool reached the edge of my toes but I could not feel it.

"CHIMECHO!" I heard someone cry out. Their cry made me jump in fright. When I turned to see the one who cried out, I saw a Corphish sobbing at the top of the ladder that emerged from the hole that led down another floor. "Hey, hey," he almost laughed as he tried to convince himself that she was ok. When Chimecho didn't move, he began to edge his way toward her.

"Move!" I desperately called to him. "Get out of here!" but he did not hear me. He did not hear my warning. Out of thin air, the two Sableye materialized with Chimecho's blood still dripping on their claws.

Corphish was out numbered but his desire to reach Chimecho was fueling his fight. Without thinking, he unleashed numerous attacks. When he used water gun, the Sableye would just transport their way around the attack. He tried moves like night slash but the Sableye were much to fast for him. They were toying with him. Corphish tried using all out moves like guillotine without success. It wasn't having an effect because they were normal type attacks, something I'm sure Corphish knew. I saw Corphish getting tired and giving up slowly but surely. So did the Saybleye. The two of them began attacking Corphish at the same time. I heard the sickening crack of his shell crumbling and failing to protect him. I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard his mournful cries that called out for mercy. They virulent snicker of the Sableye was almost enough to bring me to my knees.

The fire was beginning to reach this floor now. The smoke was becoming too heavy to see. The powerful flames were now crawling emerging from the ladder that protruded from the hole leading to the bottom floor. The fire roared with anger as though it was happy to see all of this destruction. I fled to the entrance to the floor bellow. I flattened my ears against my head to try to block out Corphish's screams of agony. I looked into the fire emerging from bellow. I took a deep breath like I was going under water and jumped.

With a thud, I found myself on the bottom floor of the guild. It was decorated the same way as the rest of the floors. I noticed that just to my right, there was a large black cauldron filled with purple gas floating like wisps, mixing with the chocking smoke. A rock structure of some sort was surrounding the cauldron in the shape of a croagunk. Cowering beside the cauldron, I saw a croagunk who was a bloody mess. Scratches lined his body and his cheeks feebly inflated with each breath. The smoke was clearly burning his eyes and even his soul. He knew he was about to die. He knew that even if he went upstairs, something would get him if the fire didn't.

I forced myself to turn away, to try to forget this being who died long ago. I looked in front of me. All around the floor, deadly flames ate away at the flowers that grew on the floor. The ground had a lot of grass growing around it, providing perfect kindling for the fire that ran rampant through the guild.

Fire was like a wall around me. It had its own mind, simply choosing who it wanted to kill next. Through the smoke, I could see the faint outline of Houndoom. Occasionally, when he let of a blast large enough, I could see his silhouette through an orange canon of light. I walked toward the right side of the floor and I noticed a hallway. When I went in, I saw a long table with many places set. At the end of the table, there was a large storage of fruit that was all on fire. In the room, I also saw three shuppet and three sableye mercilessly tormenting two figures.

I took a step closer, shaking as I tired to see the two Pokemon. They were really putting up a good fight. Through the smoke, I could see a flash of green, followed by a glimpse of purple. One of the two Pokemon was using a move called vine whip to blow the smoke away. The two Pokemon were working very well together. The purple one was protecting the green grass type from fire and taking the ghost type hits. I assumed he was a normal type because the ghost attacks had no effect on him. Seeing them fight and not dying offered a glimmer of hope. "Sunflora!" the purple one shouted. "I-I have to tell you something." Its voice was surprisingly loud.

"Eek! Oh my gosh Loudred! Couldn't it wait!" Sunflora responded while using bullet seed to attack three of the Sableye at once.

"No!" Loudred argued as he dove in front of a shadow ball thrown by a Shuppet.

With jerky movements, Sunflora dodged as a night slash just missed her. Loudred turned to look her in the eye. He was blushing. Even I could see that, from where I was standing. "Sunflora! We could die, and I want you to know that... I-I love you!"

Out of shock, Sunflora froze up. Her shocked gaze softened to a warm smile that whispered 'I love you too,' I smiled at how happy they both looked. For a second, I forgot where I was, I forgot I had seen Pokemon die, I forgot about their attackers, and so did they. Sensing the ultimate oppertuninty, all six of the Pokemon charged a once. The Sableye seized Loudred and the Shuppet took Sunflora. I heard the shrieks of terror again. The Sableye used furry swipes with no limit. The deafening cries of Sunflora were no match for Loudred's.

"SUNFLORA!" Loudred desperately called for Sunflora. He wanted to protect her. To him, it didn't matter if he died, as long as Sunflora was ok. He truly loved her.

"Loudred…" I heard Sunflora's weak cry. She was not as strong as Loudred. I could not bear to see it any longer. Without Loudred to block the flames, fire was eating away at her body as it finally reached her flammable figure. I could sense her slipping, I could feel her dying, but no more than Loudred could. His calls for Sunflora began to weaken as he to began to fade. The smoke of the room finally grew too thick for me to see, and I welcomed it. I wanted the smoke to shroud me so I didn't have to watch them die.

Tears welled in my eyes again. I could not hold them back anymore. I cowered and tried to block it out. I tried to flee this world I'm not supposed to exist in. It took me a second to realize I was shaking all over. I raised my weary head to see blood splattered on the walls, dripping from the vines that crawled up the sides. In the light of the fire, it gleamed, seemingly harmless. I backed away from the scene and stumbled into the hallway with the Croagunk cauldron. I didn't even dare look at the helpless figure for fear of seeing only a corpse.

Houndoom was done spewing flames and I heard his howls and battle cries coming from a hallway opposite of myself. The cries of dying Pokemon rang through my ears shaking me to my core. I dare not go down the crew rooms out of fear of the unchangeable horrors I would see… I just watched, stared down the hall that was becoming less viable by the second due to smoke. I turned my attention to a door that was beside me. It was made of wood that was paneled. In the center, there was a red mark. For a moment I thought it was blood but upon closer inspection, it was obviously painted on. The door was slightly open. No screams of terror met my ears. Maybe I could take refuge in there as I wait for this nightmare to end.

When I opened the door, I saw the happy pink Pokemon that was on the roof before it was smashed to bits. He was clutching an apple that seemed flawless at a cursory glance. Repulsion made my stomach lurch because the Pokemon… was _smiling._ I looked at another figure in the room. It was the Daughter of Darkness with her hood down and her hair out of her face. Her arms were folded and she was leaning against the wall just by the door glaring at the happy pink Pokemon.

"Everyone will die," the girl simply said.

A look of almost fallible sadness temporarily shadowed the happy Pokemon's face. "Oh… Tsuki? Why are you doing this?" he asked nonchalantly. _The Daughter of Darkness is named Tsuki?_

"Wigglytuff," she said with exasperation to the Pokemon. "Are you aware of whom your parents are?"

Wigglytuff nodded with enthusiasm. "Yup! My parents are Mama and Papa!"

Tsuki smiled at the stupidity. "No, try again!" she said lightheartedly.

The almost fake shadow of sadness flashed again. "Oh, then I'm afraid I don't know then."

"Since I am about to kill you," Tsuki said while stretching, "I guess I can explain. You see Wigglytuff, we are siblings." Tsuki stopped to check Wigglytuff's expression but when he was only playing with his apple and hardly paying attention, Tsuki went on. "You are a Son of Darkness, Wigglytuff."

Wigglytuff shook his head. "Nope! Not true! I'm a Wigglytuff!" he said with pride.

"You are just like me. Your body is fabricated of darkness just like mine. When you were born though, you were a creature of light; a normal type Pokemon. Darkri did all he could to create you into a proper Son of Darkness, but you are, quite bluntly put, stupid." Tsuki said with an as a matter of fact tone. "As long as you are alive, I cannot live up to my full potential. As long as you have control over the Real Darkness, I cannot have full control over it. I must kill you and take your remaining shards of darkness so I can make Darkri proud. Taking the guild down takes down every last ounce of legacy you have."

Wigglytuff stopped playing with the apple. True sadness came over his face and he looked up at Tsuki. "I remember the day you applied to my guild, friendly friend."

Shock lit up Tsuki's face. "I never applied to your guild!" she growled with sudden defiance.

"You were a human that had strangely transformed into an eevee and contracted amnesia. You applied with another. His name was Illu, right?" Wigglytuff smiled sadly as he thought of those fond memories. "That shinx... His real name was Illuminations. You thought of calling him Illu though."

Tsuki shook her head and uncrossed her arms. She wasn't leaning against the wall anymore but was in a sort of battle stance. "You are mistaken!" Tsuki snarled. Her rage was burning hotter than a flareon's fire.

"But as an eevee… You remembered your real name…" Wigglytuff dared to hold Tsuki's fierce glare.

A fury of black and red glitter appeared around Tsuki's hands. It pulled itself together to form a long and deadly scythe. The blade curled around like the shape of a cresset moon and the handle was sleek black metal. "Let's end this."

Wigglytuff placed the apple beside him and looked up at Tsuki. He jumped and produced two bright flashes of light. "Voom-tah!" he shouted.

Tsuki wasted no time lunging at Wigglytuff with the scythe. Out of shock at her speed, I leapt backwards and fell. I didn't get up and put my paws over my eyes and tried not to look. Suddenly the ground began to shake with tremendous force. I raised, my head, all my senses alert, and I saw Wigglytuff hunched over. He was trembling like the earth and some pieces of ceiling showered down on us. Using some unseen energy, he was creating an earthquake!

Tsuki laughed and wasn't even fazed by the tremors. "I know all you attacks, Wigglytuff because this pipsqueak earthquake comes from your limited powers over darkness. Let me show you how it's done." Tsuki placed her scythe behind her. The ground was still shaking from Wigglytuff's power as Tsuki knelt to the ground and placed both of her hands flat on the earth. Without warning, a devastating earthquake 100 times more powerful than Wigglytuff's erupted through the entire earth like it was being shaken by a God-like being. Wigglytuff fell forward and landed flat on his face, clearly startled out of his wits. Huge chunks of the guild began slipping away. I held my breath as a large slab of the wall began to crumble and fall away into what appeared to be oblivion. I hadn't realized the guild was built into a cliff until I saw the wall tumble towards the sea. I just barely caught sight of a flash of red as the infallible apple plummeted to the sea with the guild's walls. Satisfied, Tsuki stood up and took a glory walk towards Wigglytuff who had not gotten up. Chills ran up my spine as I heard his soft sobs, escaping his body with gasps. He knew he was defeated.

Fire began crawling in through the door. It danced around the room and looked somehow pretty… like a poisonous apple that survived the plummet to the sea. Smoke escaped through the hole in the side of guild, leaving the scene more visible than Wigglytuff's terror.

Wigglytuff rolled himself over onto his back and Tsuki made no effort to stop him. He feebly raised himself from the ground; a long gash from falling stones ruining his innocent features ran down his belly. But yet he stood. He faced Tsuki with all he was worth. I somehow had to admire his courage to die with his head held high. "You passed away in Temporal Tower before you were able to take the graduation exam," Wigglytuff said with sudden uncharacteristic bitterness. The entire childlike gleam was stolen from him… robbed by this unrelenting darkness the Daughter of Darkness cast upon him. "But during the exam, you would find me and the guild members in the forest and defeat me as 'The Grand Master of All Things Bad.'" Wigglytuff chucked as though it was a joke. "They all thought of it as a game but it was only too real."

Mercy lit the eyes of Tsuki. "Wiggytuff…" she murmured with regretful sorrow. "I understand what it's like… hiding yourself from the world to protect it… I always looked up to you, but I must gain control over darkness if I am to finish what you started."

"Y-you remember who you are!" Wigglytuff gasped with shock with a glimmer of hope unmistakably etched into his voice.

Tsuki heaved a sigh and nodded. "Yes," she nodded. "I even have regained my memories of the time I spent with Grovyle. I remember my life before I met Illu," she whispered. She looked down with tears brimming in her eyes, glinting like dew in the firelight. "I didn't want any of this to happen… but to finally finish off Darkri, I must hold up this charade and gain control over darkness." Tsuki looked up to Wigglytuff and no longer tried to hold back the tears. Her cheeks were redder than the tips of her hair with crying. Sobs racked her body with each breath but she fought them away. "Please, Wigglytuff."

Wigglytuff nodded. "Yes, I understand. Do it, Taiyo," Wigglytuff spoke my name with graceful gentleness that sent a chill through my spine.

"Taiyo…" Tsuki smiled with nostalgia. "No one seems to remember my real name anymore. Thank you… I-I won't let you down." Realization hit me; knocking all the wind out of me. The Daughter of Darkness was… Taiyo. But I am Taiyo… Does that mean that… I… I…

I am the Daughter of Darkness.

I hardly even noticed it when I grabbed my scythe. Hardly spared a glance to Wigglytuff's spilled blood. Didn't flinch when Houndoom came in with warning that the guild was about to collapse. Barley realized the dark type Pokemon were leaving until they were gone. Didn't feel the ground crumble as it was burned by the fire. Couldn't realize I was tumbling towards the sea like the rest of the fading guild. Because I am the Daughter of Darkness.

When I woke up, I was drenched in sweat and screeching. I could hardly catch my breath. I leapt to my feet in fear. Wildly, I scanned my surroundings, unable to make sense of where I was. There was a Zorua whose eyes were wide with panic. He was telling me to sit down and that I'd be ok. He said it was only a dream and that I was safe now, but I hardly heard him over the sound of my own heart racing. In the doorway of the crappy room I was in, I saw many Pokemon crowded at the doorway, trying to get a glance at me. There was a Magby, Slowpoke, Zebstrika, Swanna… I backed away from them, afraid they knew who I truly am. The Zorua stepped up in front of me. His lips began to move but I heard no sound. Dizzyness began to make my steps uneven and distort my sight. I screeched again, just to see if I still could or if I was deaf. I'll never know if I was screaming or if I just thought I was, because the next thing I knew, darkness was tunneling in on me and I collapsed into the Zorua's paws.


	9. Chapter 8: Chained to Darkness

_Author's Note: Hello World! Just wanted to say hi! The truth is, I wrote this ages ago, but due to my carelessness, I deleted the chapter. I was so crushed by stupidity but I built the chapter back up. I actually got some new ideas as I was writing too so that means it wasn't all a waste! Thank you to every one whose favorited, reviewed, and followed! I really appreciate it! _

When I woke up, the first thing I noticed was it was dark. I could hardly see anything. I was lying down on my belly and my belly fur was damp. The air was musty and the stone floor was chilled with moisture. Humidity clung to the air making it hard to breathe. My head was pounding like I smashed it against a rock and my limps felt incredibility weak. All the energy seemed to be drained right out of my body making it hard to even move. When I scraped up the willpower to stand up, the clanking of metal met my ears and resistance held back my limbs. My legs were chained to the ground with metal shackles around my paws. Above my collar of cream fur, I metal collar with chains as a leash uncomfortably rubbed against my skin. I was able to stand up but there was no mobility in my legs.

I looked upward, only to be chocked by my chains. I could not look to the sky. I slumped back down to lay on my belly. "Ugh…" I muttered. "I deserve every second of this…"

Hours went by. My life passed me by and all I could do was sit there in chains. I wondered about Illu. What did he think of me? Taiyo... He named me that. He said Taiyo was another name for sun. He said I shined like the sun. I almost laughed to myself. I'm just a hell forsaken piece of crap that sucks worse than forgetting the words to your favorite song…

The weakness in my legs began to become steadily worse. A tingling arose in all parts of my body. I thought of how the Daughter of Darkness's real name was Taiyo. I mean, anyone could be named Taiyo… That doesn't mean we're the same person… That's not even my real name! But I mean, sure I'm a human and sure she went missing and all… But how long ago did she go missing? Could this explain the weird looks I was getting? Then why didn't Illu sense my identity like everyone else?

I began to shiver from the cold but it only made the chains uncomfortably rub against my skin. I suppressed my shaking and allowed my mind to drift back to the mystery dungeon adventure Illu and I had. I remembered when Illu was attacked by the Rattata. I was so frightened when they came out of nowhere… I remember how bad I felt when I saw Illu's shredded ear. Getting the oran berries was also quite the ordeal. Those spearrow would have killed me if they had the chance… They almost did too; when they had me cornered.

When they had me cornered… Wait a second… H-how did I escape their grip? I remember they charged at me and I tried to dodge, but one of them got me in the back. I fell over and they started stabbing at me, over and over… I was completely immobilized by pain. I was thinking about Illu at the time. Suddenly, I teleported or something. I remember because I was so surprised and I had no idea what happened… I just forgot about it then because so much else was going on.

How did I teleport? If I could do that now, then maybe I could free myself from these damn chains. But that follows another question…

Do I want to be free?

Freedom… The greatest gift of all. Do I deserve that? I am the Daughter of Darkness. I killed so many Pokemon and probably people too… Before I said that my body was fabricated of darkness. I don't even have flesh and blood. I'm just walking darkness, sculpted to look like an eevee. But I remember being human… so why am I an eevee now? And based on the conversation I had with Wigglytuff, one could say that maybe I even knew Wigglytuff before I killed him. How though? Why did I even kill Wigglytuff? I seemed to be upset about it… Another thing Wigglytuff said perturbed me more than anything though. He said I passed away in Temporal Tower. I-I died! So how am I alive now? How did I die? Wigglytuff even mentioned something about me enrolling in the guild, as an eevee no less… and with another Pokemon… Named Illu.

That Illu was named Illumination and was a Shinx, while my Illu is named Illusions and is a Zorua. Wigglytuff said I gave the Shinx the nickname Illu. Is there a connection between the two Pokemon? But that's impossible!

And then that leaves Chatot. Zeal, the Misdreavus, said that Chatot knew Wigglytuff. He was at the guild the night I went there though, but somehow, he survived. Now that I think about it, it wouldn't have been too hard for Chatot to slip past the Leipard I left on guard. But Chatot looked very young in that vision or whatever. So how long ago was that night? Chatot looks like he's about to drop dead any second with his old age so it must have been ages ago… But then how old am I? I looked like a teenager as the Daughter of Darkness; somewhere between 14 and 16… But if that day was that long ago then… I could be 40 or 50! I don't feel very old, or look it. Could I be immortal or something?

Great… There is another thing that has been left unanswered. Why did I see that vision? How? Was it a memory of mine as the Daughter of Darkness? If so, then what triggered that memory? I know that it's impossible for that to have been my memory though. If that was true, then I'd always have to be right beside myself. I witnessed events that were happening while that past me was not looking. I saw that incident with Loudred and Sunflora, even though I was in a different room… None of this makes any sense.

My thoughts wandered back to Illu and me in the mystery dungeon. I began to question my teleportation methods again. Was that a Pokemon move? It had to have been… if it was, then I should still remember it. Freedom… is a necessity of life. And of course, I can't just lay here and die. I have way too many questions! It may be true that I deserve to sit here, locked away in darkness forever, but that can never be enough to repay my sins. I must spread light. I'll be the greatest Pokemon ever. I have to repent. I'll stay on the exploration team with Illu, if he doesn't hate me, and then I can make Pokemon smile. It's a small way to make up for the lives lost and such a feeble offering is almost deplorable… but nonetheless, I can't just sit by and watch it all crumble with time. I'm breaking my chains to darkness; starting with the ones locking me to the ground.

I squeezed my eyes shut, suddenly filled with a newfound hope. The weakness I felt in my limbs began to evaporate with my sudden will. I slowly but strongly raised myself and stood on my feet. I lifted my head up high, ignoring my chocking chains. Just above me, I could see the gleaming ball of light that hung just above Soul Union. I must be right under that ball of light. For some reason, it doesn't touch me. Even though I am right under the light, it doesn't shine on me. This entire cavern is shielded from the light so that explains why I couldn't see it before. It's odd though, because I remember earlier when Illu and I came here, the light was clearly illuminating the guild. I guess light doesn't dare to go into this dark little cave.

I looked down at my feet. They were crusted with mud and rust from the chains. I crouched low and closed my eyes. Concentrating all my energy, I imagined it coursing through my veins, giving me strength. I thought about my astounding debt to light and how I wanted to be free to free others from the darkness I cast upon them. I needed to be free!

_Pop pop chhh… WHOOSSHH! _A feeling of being carried by the wind over whelmed me once more and a strong gust ruffled my fur. When I opened my eyes, I was shocked. It worked! I was standing right in front of my chains. They lay limp on the ground, sprawled out like a dead arbok. I gave a relaxing stretch and listened to every one of my bones in my back crack from holding still for so long.

"Baton Pass," I suddenly whispered. Recognition flashed across my mind as the name of the Pokemon move I used to teleport surfaced. "What other moves do I know...?" I muttered to myself in thought. I guess when I was an eevee before I knew quite a few moves. Lucky I still remember then. A light bulb brighter than a thunder punch went off in my mind. "Dig! I knew that move too!"

Effortlessly, my body began to move. My paws began clawing at the soft, muddy ground as the move dig flowed back through my memory. That ball of light hovers above Soul Union, just above the volcano-like funnel at the top of the square shaped building. I must be inside the volcano, so that means that Soul Union's main floor is right below me. I continued to dig but the mud was flying in my eyes forcing me to close them. The ground soon began to cave in as I reached the ceiling of the main floor. Without warning, a large chunk of the ground fell away and began to plummet towards the main floor taking me with it.

With a loud thud, I crumbled to a heap on the grassy ground. I managed to dig my way through the floor. I looked up and saw a few stray pieces of dirt falling like snow around me. I couldn't help but gawk at how super cool my quick thinking was, until gasps of shock became audible to me. I slowly, almost reluctantly, turned my gaze from my destruction and turned to face the guild. I straightened up and allowed my gaze to pass through the members. I recognized Zeal, the magby, the zebstrika, swanna, politoed, and many more. The only one I was searching for was Illu, who was no where to be seen. Neither was Chatot or Axel. I wasn't sure if I should have been relieved or disappointed…

All eyes were on me. No one was saying anything. The silence became unbearable and I began to twitch under their watchful glares. Some gazes were friendly, other hostile, some curious, one or two even sympathetic. I looked up at the hole in the roof and felt a twinge of embarrassment. "Uhh… Sorry about that," I sheepishly apologized, anything to break this silence. "But you know, I was chained up."

The Zebstrika stepped forward with hostility firing with a passion. "Crawl back to Darkri," he spat.

For some reason, I didn't flinch. To my surprise, I sat down and held his gaze for a moment before turning it to everyone. "Can I be honest? I-I don't have any memories," I said while looked away with embarrassment. "I just want to know what the _hell_ everyone is talking about! What are the World of Darkness and the Daughter of Darkness?" It's not like I had anything left to lose. Who can blame me for asking?

The gentle swanna turned to Zeal. "Zeal," he gently asked. "Is this true? Didn't you notice this before when you were determining if she was safe?"

Zeal rolled her eyes with attitude I would have expected from her. "Duh! She's dumber than Slip!" Zeal retorted while gesturing towards the Slowpoke who was blowing a snot bubble and not really paying attention to anything.

The Swanna tried to act like that didn't annoy him but even I could see that ruffle his feathers. "Why didn't you mention that before!" the swanna said with irritation singeing his words.

"It didn't seem important," Zeal shrugged.

The swanna took a place beside the Zebstrika who didn't dare take his eye off me. "My name is Stamp," the Swanna said with a smile. He gestured towards the Zebstrika. "This wonderful ray of sunshine is Sage. You can introduce yourself to the rest of the guild later."

"Stamp," Sage rolled his eyes. "There's no point in telling her anything! She's going to be kicked out of the guild anyway!"

Stamp shook his head. "Chatot is fair. She hasn't done anything wrong."

The fiery Magby hissed a breath of fire. "Everyone knows she's forsaken! She should be kicked back the World of Darkness!"

"Shut up Plume!" a Roserade snapped while waking the little Magby named Plume over the head.

"Damn it Thorna!" a Linoone with a boyish scratchy voice butted it. "Quit bossing everyone around!"

"You wanna go?" Thorna challenged.

"You wanna go?" the Linoone shot back.

"YOU WANNA GO!" Thorna roared.

"I ALREADY WENT!" Linoone said as he fell around laughing at this own lame joke.

Within moments, the entire guild erupted into yelling and arguing. Thorna was readying her poisonous flowers to kill the Linoone with. The Magby named Plume was spewing weak embers at Thorna while a Machop was trying to stop her. Roaring filled the air making my head pound. I flattened my long eevee ears against my head to try to block out all the noise and I squeezed my eyes shut. Stamp must have noticed my distress because I heard his voice over the crowd.

"EVERYONE, FOR THE _LOVE_ OF ARCEUS, SHUT IT!" Stamp's voice boomed. I raised my head to see his feathers fluffed out and his wings extended in warning. The entire guild fell over an uneasy silence. Even Slip the Slowpoke's snot bubble popped as he looked up in surprise. "Thank you," he growled. "Someone fetch Notch so I don't have to explain this again."

I noticed the female Zangoose nod in agreement. On all fours, she went down the left hallway which leads to crew rooms. A moment later, she returned with that baby Meowth on her back. He was staring at everyone with wide eyes that reflected his baby innocence. Notch… That's a cute name for him. I guess one so young has been shielded of knowledge of the Daughter and World of Darkness. The Zangoose gingerly set Notch beside me. Notch turned to look up at me. I returned his gaze with a smile but he hardly seemed to notice.

Stamp cleared his throat to indicate he was ready to speak and we both turned to look at him. "Long ago," Stamp began, almost like he was telling a story. "There was a Pokemon called Arceus. Arceus created everything, including himself. It was almost like he willed himself to exist and then he existed! Truly a Pokemon of great might. He is known as the Alpha Pokemon. He created time and then Dialga to rule it. He then created space and then Palkia to rule that.

Pretty much every human knows that much of the story, but most humans only believe that Arceus created this world. This world we live in is known by the other worlds as Paradise Place, or Paradise for short. We call it Paradise because here is where all the elements exist, if only in their simplified forms. Here, we have fire, water, air, the ground, light, and darkness. Hidden here in Paradise, there are portals. One for the World of Fire, World of Water, World of Air, World of a Leaf, World of Light, and the World of Darkness. The portals are hidden all over this world and serves to connect all the worlds. There was another portal," Stamp hesitated for a moment. "But it was destroyed."

"Where did the portal lead?" I asked.

"It lead to the World of the Deceased," Stamp said gravely. "That portal was located in a place faraway called Lavender Town. It was at the bottom of the Pokemon Tower, which was a graveyard. However, humans destroyed the tower to build a radio tower and destroyed the portal."

"Why'd they destroy the portal?" I questioned with burning interest.

Stamp shrugged. "We don't know why humans do a lot of things, Taiyo. That portal wasn't good news away. All sorts of grief ridden Pokemon would lunge themselves into the portal hoping to bring back someone lost but we know better, don't we?"

Horror stuck my heart as Stamp said this. I looked down at my paws and thought about the Pokemon that did go in there. I wonder who they were looking for. Chatot survived through the massacre of Wigglytuff's Guild. Maybe he was tempted to search for the many lost lives. Somehow though, I can't see that happening. "That's upsetting." I murmured, more to myself than anyone.

"Life goes on," Sage said with a noble edge. "And so must this story." Sage ended his sentence with an edge of bitterness that wasn't unknown. I looked up again; ready to face the rest of the story. I snuck a glance at the little Meowth who was looking as absent minded as Slip, the slowpoke.

"Yes it must," Stamp cleared his throat. "Anyway, the portals are hidden. Even if you were standing right in front of one, there's no way you would even realize it's there. You see, special Pokemon, or humans, can have a special ability called Harmonics. The legend behind Harmonics is that Arceus wanted a select handful of individuals to bring the worlds together. When speaking of harmonics, you would say they are sound waves, frequencies, if you will. They are inaudible to most, but to a select few, these frequencies can be heard. They are whispers of the world around you. These sound waves can tell the future and the past and the location of portals. Occasionally, you'd be able to hear someone else's thoughts or dreams too."

Curiosity prickled at my mind. Harmonics… "So could someone with Harmonics see visions about the past or future in maybe _dreams_?"

Stamp hardly had to think about it. "Probably! Quite amazing, isn't it? One form of Harmonics is the Dimensional Scream. The Dimensional Scream however, is only activated when the user touches something or someone and then the vision would only pertain to whatever they touched. The visions would show an event in the past or the future or even the present. Visions won't come as you want them to either. It is a useful but primitive ability. However, this ability is the base of Harmonics. Fine training would allow someone with the Dimensional Scream to hear Harmonics.

Some rumors even say that Harmonics can lead someone to gain control over elements they wouldn't have before. Let's say a Squirtle had Harmonics. Using his or her ability, they would be able to possibly gain control over fire! This ability is held in the highest regard and is dreamed of by Pokemon everywhere!"

"Do you know anyone with the ability Harmonics?" I asked.

Stamp shook his head. "I'm afraid no one has been recorded to have Harmonics for many, many years now. Nonetheless, such ability would be a lot of work! It would take an awful lot of training to master such an ability."

"Wow," I breathed.

"Moving on to the next topic," Stamp said with a clipped tone. "Children of the Elements, one of them being the Daughter of Darkness whose name is Tsuki, are our next point of interest. For each element, there is a child so there are six children. Each child is born with a special mark to brand them as a Child. Under their left eye, there is an upside down triangle to always reveal their identities."

My mind drifted back to myself as I stood before Wigglytuff's Guild, right before I burned it down. There was a mark, under my eye that was blacker than night… But why don't I have that mark now?

"Here in Paradise," Stamp began again, "you only find elements in their simplified forms. Simple Fire burns and that is it. Simple Fire cannot burn without air, but that is only in this form. In the World of Fire, you would find Real Fire in abundance. This fire does not need air to burn and cannot be doused with Simple Water. You can eat Real Fire and build houses with it too. Everything in the World of Fire is comprised of Real Fire."

As I was listening to Stamp, an image popped into my mind. I thought of houses just being made of a wall of fire, burning into a crimson sky. I pictured trees with scarlet bark and leaves that were just burning fire that never went out. It was beautiful but also very intimidating. I pictured myself in that world and shuttered at the thought of my fur being on fire.

"Children of the Elements can control the real version of their respective element," Stamp went on, knocking me out of my thoughts. "There are rumors however, that if two children of the same element exist, both of them will have weakened powers and is unable to attain full control of their own element."

_That's why Wigglytuff died. _A burning image of myself as the Daughter of Darkness raising my scythe to kill Wigglytuff made my stomach lurch; I kept my mouth shut and only nodded.

"There are certain Pokemon types that are associated with different worlds. In the World of Fire, you have fire, ground, fighting, and rock type Pokemon. The World of the Leaf has grass, bug, and poison types. The World of Water is home to water and ice types and the World of Air is home to flying types. The World of Light has normal, electric, and physic types while the World of Darkness has dark and ghost types. A lot of Pokemon have two types but they would live in the World that is primarily their type. Take a Staraptor for example. It is a flying and normal type Pokemon. Its primary type is flying so they would most commonly live in the World of Air. You almost never see Staraptor in the World of Light.

Children can control the Real and Simple version of their elements but can also wield attacks that are the same type as others from their world. So if the Child of Light was a Solosis, they could use normal, electric, and physic type attacks. They would also have control over their element.

"Children also have bodies that are made up of their element! So Tsuki's body is made entirely of Real Darkness. The Child of Light would have a body that's made entirely of Real Light too! When they are born, the element that creates them goes into its default form. The element takes the form of the child's heart. Normally, you would have the Child take the form of whatever element they belong to. The Son of Water is a Dewgong named Ring. When he was born, he was a Seel. Water-type and Ice-type Pokemon are creatures of water so he was perfect! There are rumors though, this one I don't believe for a second, but some say that when Tsuki was born, she was a Normal-type Pokemon! Normal-types are creatures of Light so I guess if she really was a Normal-type Pokemon at birth, Darkri was embarrassed and shaped her darkness to take the form of a human. Quite amazing that they can do that."

"Which Pokemon was she?" I asked. _Don't say eevee, don't say eevee…_

Stamp shook his head. "I'm not really one to gossip so I wouldn't know." Stamp continued talking as though I never spoke leaving me a little frustrated. "Children can also see their portal without fail and are even rumored to be able to just open up a portal wherever they are. For example, if Tsuki was trapped in Paradise for whatever reason, she could just open up a portal to her world right in front of her! Perfectly convenient."

"Stamp," I began. "Why do the children exist? Who creates them?"

Stamp seemed a little annoyed that I interrupted him but he went on. "The children are created by the Guardian of their worlds. Each world is ruled by a Guardian who are the assistants of Arceus. These Pokemon cannot control the Real version of their element but are very powerful. The Guardian of the World of Fire is Groudon and the Guardian of the World of Water is Lugia. Mew ruled Paradise and Celibi rules the World of the Leaf. The World of Air is ruled by Rayquaza and Cresselia ruled the World of Light. The World of Darkness is ruled by Darkri.

At the beginning of existence, Arceus took the raw power of each element and condensed it into an orb. 6 orbs were created and Arceus taught each guardian how to use the orbs to create an elemental Child. That would explain why the Children can use the Real version of their element and why their bodies are fabricated of their element. The Guardians can also shape the element, just like was rumored to have happened to Tsuki. However, the Children can't shape shift.

To their world's, the Children are the life force. The orb is the life force but as long as the Children have it, then they are the life force of their world. If the orbs are just left alone without a Child, the world will become unstable. The orb will eventually shatter under the weight of the world because of all the energy it hold if it doesn't have a life to exert the energy just by living. Also, if there is a disaster in a world of something, the Children can stabilize it fairly easily with their powers."

"Can the Children… die?" I asked.

"Of course! They are just as vulnerable to death as the rest of us. They will get old too. Guardians, on the other hand, are immortal. There are ways to get around that though. That's why the Guardians exist. They must create and guard the child to keep the world alive," Stamp said with a mater-o'-fact tone.

"There is one thing about the Children I forgot to mention…" Stamp seemed to hesitate. "Children are linked to the Guardian."

"Linked?" I echoed.

Stamp nodded. "The Child was created by the Guardian and so the Guardian could control the Child, like a puppet. It takes a tremendous amount of energy though and keeping it up for to long could bring around certain death which is why it's almost never done."

"W-wait," I stammered as I tried to fight back new fears, "Darkri could just control m-Tsuki just like a puppet!" I stuttered and almost said me, instead of Tsuki. I breathed an inner sigh of relief that I caught myself.

Stamp didn't seem to notice. "Yes, but he wouldn't be able to hold it up for more than an hour without killing her. It would drive her to die of exhaustion."

I swallowed. _A lot can happen in an hour…_

The sound of someone emerging out of water startled me out of my fears. The entire guild moved their heads as one to turn to face the pond that was in the middle of the room. Out of the water, Chatot emerged. My eyes widened in shock as I watched Chatot slowly step out of a pond that was no more than a foot deep. He stumbled out, looking weary and ragged. Behind him, Axel emerged, looking stolid as ever. When he arose to his full height though, I could see that there was a slash on his right shoulder, and his jaw was set in pain. As Axel was still coming out, I turned to Stamp.

He must've seen the confusion in my eyes because he kindly explained. "The pond is a portal. It can take you to any place you want so we keep it there to transport to the location of a mission."

I turned to face the pond again, wondering if there was a spell on it or something. I opened my mouth to ask Stamp when I realized something. No one else stepped out of the water. My eyes flashed from Chatot to Axel, then swept across the faces of the guild, all looking expectantly at Chatot and Axel. I saw Thorna, the Linoone, Plume, Zeal, Sage, Stamp, Notch, the drowsy Slowpoke… but no Illu. When I saw he wasn't here, I just assumed he was with Chatot. I looked over at Chatot feeling the fear rising in my throat. _Did he abandon me!_

"Where's Illu!" I pushed past the crowd to face Chatot and Axel.

Chatot gave me a weak and weary glare. I noticed that he was missing quite a few feathers… I shook the thought away and held my ground. "That damn Zorua?" Chatot questioned. I saw right through him though.

"Don't play dumb! He had to have been with you!" I challenged.

Chatot looked a little taken aback but then narrowed his eyes with vengeance. Before he could speak, Sage cut him off.

"After your little 'episode' everyone took a vote," Sage said with triumph. He strolled past me to take a spot beside Chatot to show his superiority. Scorn laced each word and each of them filled me with hatred. "We voted to chain you up until we found out what you are. It's plain to everyone your forsaken, even for a creature of Light. He begged us not to though, said it had just been a nightmare, told us that you were only a simple eevee, but that earsplitting screaming told us all differently. He's chained up too, but we put him somewhere far away." He paused for the dramatic effect. I could hear the sounds of waves lapping at the sand of the beaches bellow through the silence, breaking through by red rage. "So, what are you, Taiyo? Could you be a member of Death Virus? Sent to spy? Or could you even be Tsuki herself, disguised by Darkri?"

"That's enough!" Chatot snapped and stepped between us. "Taiyo is _not _the Daughter of Darkness. The thought crossed my mind too, but now I am sure of it."

"How can you be so sure?" Thorna challenged, her voice heavy with accusation. "We can't all be wrong!"

The guild murmured in agreement and even Slip the slowpoke seemed to be aware of what was going on.

Chatot took a deep breath and turned to steal a glance from Axel. Their gazes were held for a moment before I saw Axel give the slightest of nods. Chatot turned to stand before the guild with some unknown burden weighing him down. "I am sure because," Chatot stopped to search for the right words, "because… I just watched Tsuki, the Daughter of Darkness, steal a Time Gear."


	10. Chapter 9: Frozen in Time

_Author's Note: Hey people! I'm happy to announce this story will be updated again! Yay! Thanks everyone!_

Silence hung heavy in their air with so much weight it seemed tangible. No one spoke. No one moved. I hardly dared to breathe; I don't think I could've if I tried. I had no clue what the hell a Time Gear was, but Chatot said he just saw Tsuki… But I'm right here. Could it be that... I'm not the Daughter of Darkness? But I was so sure. I don't have a mark though. But I remembered those moves while I was chained up. Maybe I just learned them naturally…

"Where was the Time Gear?" Sage finally shattered the silence with a gruff request, so hesitant it was almost like he was bleating.

Chatot cleared this throat before he spoke. "The Time Gear was from Fogbound Lake. I was visiting Uxie, the guardian of the Time Gear, when she came."

"W-what about time? Has it truly stopped?" the Linoone voiced with much uncertainty.

Despair weighted Chatot's eyes has he held the Linoone's unsteady gaze. When the weight of letting the Time Gear slip away was too much to bear, he lowered his head in solemn defeat. The entire guild pretended not to notice the three feathers that fell like tears from Chatot's body.

_Can time stop?_ I tried to make sense of the Linoone's words. Has time stopped in Fogbound Lake? It must've, or Chatot wouldn't be so guilty right now… _Time Gears…_ The word rang through my mind, vibrating through my mind as it echoed in my memories. I knew what Time Gears were… They must have been significant to me or the word wouldn't taunt me as much as it does now.

"What are Time Gears?" I whispered to Stamp, trying to blend with the piercing silence. Chatot overheard me though and he raised his weary head to meet my curious question. I scrutinized his eyes, digging through those mixed emotions to see what he was feeling. Memories, as he relived them over and over again, were vivid as sunlight. Memories of Time Gears, of Wigglytuff's Guild, of Tsuki… they were all there. He wasn't trying to hide them; hide from them was more likely.

"Time Gears," Chatot began, "are the gears of time. They protect time and keep it flowing smoothly in their region. They are hidden in secret places in the world, all of them located in the Pax region."

"The Pax region?" I echoed.

Chatot nodded. "Of course. You have heard of the other regions, haven't you? There's Unova, Almia, Johto, Oblivia, you get the idea. But this region, the Pax region, is where we are located. This region is unknown to most humans, but a few stray ones will wonder by every now and again. Time Gears keep time running for all the worlds but the ones that stabilize Paradise are here. The reason being would be that humans don't come here. Just like the lost portal to the World of the Deceased, humans have a tendency to break things without even realizing it.

Even in the Pax region though, the Time Gears are hidden. Like in a forest… or an under ground lake. I've even heard that there is one hidden inside a volcano."

"But what happens if a region looses its Time Gear?" I asked, already knowing the answer. What was I expecting? Chatot to say 'nothing'?

"For decades that was a question that was left unanswered… Until 65 years ago, that is." Chatot's voice resided into pain as he looked away from me and turned to look out the large window in the center of the room. I could sense the guild becoming intrigued. Beside Chatot, I noticed Sage tensed up, while beside me Stamp's eyes glistened with curiosity. I looked behind me to see the faces of the guild members all leaning forward a little, desperate to know what happened. Could it be that Chatot has never mentioned an incident that took place 65 years ago? Is that event nothing more than whispers now? Rumors that have never been confirmed?

Chatot found the strength to look back at me. "Time freezes in its region when you remove its Time Gear."

The guild held their breath in suspense, waiting for Chatot to go on. I looked over at Axel who eyed Chatot with thirst for the knowledge clearly evident. Sage twitched with impatience and so did I.

But Chatot withheld.

"What are you all looking at me for?" Chatot snapped with sudden anger that made me recoil. I straightened up almost immediately and took a step forward. I opened my mouth to persist and refuse to let the subject drop but Chatot met my gaze. He was looking at me with desperation, begging me not to ask, his weariness shrouding his anger. I held my tongue and didn't miss Chatot's shoulders slum in relief.

Slowly I sat down. Confusion hummed through the guild members but no one dared to voice a complaint. "Tsuki must be captured at all costs!" Chatot's voice boomed over the guild members silencing them at once. Sage leapt back to his spot beside me. "The Exploration Teams will turn all their attention towards capturing Tsuki. Apprentices will take care of the jobs on the Bulletin Board."

All the guild members exchanged uneasy glances. "Time for the morning cheers everyone!" Chatot tried to urge them with feigned enthusiasm.

Silence met Chatot's request. He flapped his wings in frustration. "_Time for morning cheers everyone,_" he snarled with menace. Stamp was the first to lead the guild.

"One, don't shirk work," Stamp began with awkward uncomfort.

The Linoone joined in to save Stamp with a little shimmer of enthusiasm. "Two! Run away and-"

"Pay." Thorna finished while flashing a smile to the Linoone.

A Poochyena and Zeal joined in for the third line. "Three!"

"SMILES GO FOR MILES!" everyone cheered at once, even Sage had joined in at that point. I laughed to myself at how heartwarmingly corny their unity was. It was cute but also a little goober. For some reason, I liked it though. _Smiles go for miles… I like that saying._ I remembered reading it somewhere. It wasn't long ago either. That was written on that sign wasn't it? In Wigglytuff's Guild? I smiled to myself at the thought of Chatot holding that tradition and saying up. I still felt incredibly uneasy though, without Illu by my side.

The guild members dispersed, each doing their assigned jobs and creating a friendly buzz of chatter. I stole a glance at Chatot who seemed to be relieved everyone was leaving. I hesitated on whether or not I should approach him but decided to go for it because he knew where Illu was.

As I approached him, he sighed and rolled his eyes at me. "For the loveof _Arceus_," Chatot sighed with much exasperation. "What do you want now?"

"For one thing, I don't know if I'm an apprentice or a member of a team, and second, my best friend-" I stopped myself short. _Did I really just say that? My best friend?_ I cleared my throat. "My best friend is chained up and since there is nothing wrong with me, I'd like to know where he is." As I spoke, I threw in some mock politeness and threw in a bright smile.

"I don't care for your attitude, Taiyo," he narrowed his eyes with warning. "Hasn't anyone taught you to respect authority?"

"Just tell me where Illu is," I said with apathy towards his challenge.

Chatot hesitated for a moment before turning away. I opened my mouth to argue when I noticed he was looking towards Axel who was edgily observing us. Chatot motioned Axel to come over to Chatot. For a moment, it seemed like he wouldn't accede but Chatot furiously motioned again. Reluctantly, Axel trudged over while avoiding my eyes. The two exchanged whispers not meant for my ears, but a few stray words drifted over.

"_Time Gears… frozen… tell her…_" was all I managed to catch from the hushed voices. Too suddenly, it fit together. Everything fell into its rightful place, and the truth stabbed me deeper than any wound. I stumbled backwards and crouched to the floor. I flattened my ears against my head to block out the truth, to just shut up my mind. But it was too late. I knew the truth.

Illu was frozen in time.

It made perfect sense… They were taking him away to chain him up maybe or to interrogate him about me… They needed somewhere hidden, a secret location. A place so removed from the public's mind that you could hide a Time Gear there. How could they have known the Time Gear would be stolen? Illu was probably chained up and then unable to escape. The time lapse swallowed him whole. And they left him there.

"How could you?" I breathed as I stood up. I snapped my head upwards to glare right into Chatot's eyes. "How could you abandon him in a time lapse!"

Axel never met my eyes and Chatot turned away in regret. "What kind of guild master leaves a member of their guild frozen in time!" I watched with relief as some of my pain was burdened onto Chatot. I knew I hit him where it hurts. I couldn't stop myself though. "What kind of guild _member_ just lets every member of their guild die? Maybe Wigglytuff's Guild would still be standing if you weren't so weak! You were right there, Chatot! You could've stopped her!"

Chatot snapped his head to face me. The look on his face was one I could never forget, even if I got amnesia again. I sucked in a sharp breath, immediately realizing what I had done. More feathers drifted off of his body leaving behind bald spots. Chatot's eyes were red and blood shot and tears streamed down his cheeks. Through his depression though, there was rage and hatred that burned brighter than the sun. I stabbed him right through the chest with those words which were false testimony. I was there when Chatot was knocked into darkness at the beginning. There was nothing he could have done, but I couldn't help but voice his fears. Solidify his guilt.

For a moment, our eyes met. My rage melted away like ice thrown into a fireplace and turned into regret. I just couldn't stop myself from saying those terrible things… Chatot was trying to piece together something to say to be in response but he broke could not say anything. He suppressed his sobs but they still made him flinch. I stole a look to Axel who's normally passive demeanor was shattered only to be replaced by burning with hatred as he glared at me.

"Chatot," I tried to search for something to say, but what can you say to that? "I-I'm sorry, it just slipped out…" I cursed myself for being so pathetic. "I know that's not true but-"

Chatot raised his wing to silence me. "Just, please. Stop."

I bowed my head and took a step back. I wanted to join an Exploration Team to try to account for my sins but I just ripped out Chatot's heart with one blow. _I guess I truly am the Daughter of Darkness... _It was time for me to leave. At least for now. Without looking at Chatot or Axel, I slinked over to the pool. I peered at my reflection in the still water.

The face of an eevee stared up at me. I took in my round eevee face, long, almost floppy, ears, chestnut fur, cream fur collar, large blue eyes… The fur at the back of my neck was still roughed up from the mystery dungeon although most of it had grown back. Flecks of rust from the chains spotted my fur and weariness clearly hung onto my eye lids.

But this pool wasn't a mirror; it was a portal.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I jumped into the water with one command in my mind. _Take me to Illu_.


	11. Chapter 10: Kivuli

_Author's Note: I would just like to thank everyone who is reading this story! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! Your support means so much to me, and just THANK YOU WORLD! =^_^=_

The sensation of falling overcame my body. Unseen air whistled in my ears and ripped back my fur. Without even thinking, I shut my eyes to block out the wind, but they were forced to peel open with the force of air. Tears welled up in my burning eyes from the stinging current of the atmosphere and no sight met my eyes; only darkness. I suddenly became aware that I was plummeting head first into nothingness. I looked upward, well in my perspective anyway, and I saw only darkness. The fact that if I hit the ground at this force, I'd have no chance of survival and I'd never even see it coming suddenly came to mind. That would be pretty anticlimactic, wouldn't it, if I just died right here? What if I just kept falling? And falling… and falling… never coming to anything. Just existing on this path to somewhere.

I did a half tumble in the air in an attempt to straighten myself out so I would be falling tail first instead of head first. I used my bushy tail to stabilize myself. Time seemed to slow down… What was I even doing here? How did I even end up falling like this?

It took me a moment to remember… I was falling to find my best friend. A friend who I haven't even known for a week who already means more to me than anything. Illu… I had to save him from what Chatot did to him. Trapped in time, without even knowing he was. Maybe he did know. Is he conscious? Can he think about things like he's in a coma, or is he just frozen without even aging?

Maybe I was falling because I was forgetting. The portal I leapt through would take me to the place I was thinking of, but maybe it backfired because I forgot where I was going. I squeezed my eyes shut, although it made no difference in contrast to the darkness, and focused. _Illu… Illu… Illu…_ I formed his face in my mind. Those concerned sea green eyes… soft charcoal fur… bushy tuft of fur nested in between his pointy, smoky ears…

The wind ceased. My eyes flew open with surprise and I found myself in a whole new world, completely unscathed. All four of my paws miraculously found the ground, but chills ran all over my body because the wind left my fur standing on end. I crouched on the ground for a moment and I realized with shock that I was trembling. I didn't even realize how afraid I was until it was over; that's a pretty good defense mechanism. Slowly, I straightened myself up as I fought away the black spots that dotted my vision. Tears streamed through my face from the whipping wind and I had to blink a few times to truly rid myself of the stinging pain. My fur began to fall back into place.

My eyes needed a moment to adjust after being encased in darkness for so long. When they did sharpen though, I was shocked. The world around me was a frozen wonderland. Chills snaked up my spine as I tried to make out my area. I was standing on a rocky area with sand that was clearly wet, but it didn't feel wet. My footprint wasn't even imprinted in the sand and it was a shadowy gray. I looked out past the rocks and forward.

I was on the edge of a lake. The lake was very beautiful, even though it seemed to be robbed of its color. The water was clear but was frozen although it clearly wasn't ice. Above the water, suspended balls of dull light hung like stars. Their reflections remained consistent on the surface of that water but never wavered. All around the perimeter of the lake, I could see what looked like a forest area. The trees were mainly pine but bushes and shrubs poked out from behind. The color gray clung to their leaves, making them look like a shadow.

Turning away from the water, I noticed a little cavern at the end of the walkway. I walked up to the edge and noticed that it was a hole that descended deep into the ground. Discolorations and unease pricked my nerves as I immediately recognized that place as a mystery dungeon. I stepped away from the entrance to the mystery dungeon when something else caught my eye.

Carefully, I took a few steps forward. Shock sent a pulse of adrenaline through my veins as I beheld the sight in front of me. I was on the edge of a cliff. It wasn't a cliff though; I was on a huge plateau! The mystery dungeon didn't descend into the ground, it descended _to _the ground. Stretched on the ground hundreds of feet below me, there was a forest that was shrouded with a fog so dense, it looked like milk. The gray spots of pine were visible through the fog though and a tiny gray structure was in my line of vision close to the edge of the plateau. It looked like it was a statue of some sort. Water made its way past me as it flowed through the lake to spill over the edges of the plateau like numerous waterfalls that hurled themselves towards the safety of the ground, but as for now… They were suspended mid-fall. The water looked like it froze to ice halfway down although it didn't look like it was ice. It just looked like black and white picture of a waterfall.

I stumbled back from the edge of the plateau and turned back to the water's edge. _Why is everything so gray and still? Is it nighttime? _I took a moment to think about this. When Illu and I went to Soul Union, it was just beginning to get dark. I had that nightmare and then was awakened in the middle of the night and then went on to be chained up for a number of hours. It had to be at least close to dawn by now.

An overpowering sound became a detail I noticed; only it wasn't a sound at all, but rather the lack of sound. Silence. No wind, no rustling leaves, no running water, no Pokemon in the background… Nothing. Time was truly frozen. But… _where is Illu?_

"Taiyo?" a voice spoke that was clearly recognizable.

"Illu!" I cried out in relief. I turned to the direction the voice came from and I saw Illu, looking rough and ragged, standing just behind me. The red parts of his fur were a splash of color in this gray place and his eyes were ignited with relief. Weariness weighed him down but his jaw was parted in a smile at my sight. A faint thought that he wasn't there a moment ago crossed my mind, but it didn't matter. I had found him, and he was ok.

I leapt forward to meet my friend and I outstretched my front paws in a hug. Being a four-legged creature now, it was harder than it would've been if I was still a human but it didn't matter. I put my paws around his neck in a hug of relief. It was rather hard for me to do so I gave up and took a step back. His eyes glittered with amusement at my human habits but he didn't comment. I nuzzled my face into his shoulder as I couldn't contain my joy.

"Taiyo," he said again as if he couldn't believe I was standing there. "Thank Arceus you're ok!"

"Why wouldn't I be? You're the one who was caught in the time freeze." I gave a little smile at his efforts to put me first.

Illu hesitated for a moment. "I-It's just that the last time I saw you..." his voice trailed off as he looked away.

_The last time Illu saw me... _I cast my mind's eye backwards through my limited memories. The last time I saw Illu was... right after my meltdown after seeing Wigglytuff's Guild in its final hour. "Oh," I said flatly. I took a step back and held my head down. "S-So you're afraid of me now too... Just like everyone else."

"No!" Illu's eyes were apologetic. "That's not it! It's just that... you were so afraid that I was worried about you!" I didn't budge an inch. "What was it you saw?" Illu asked in the gentlest voice he would muster.

I looked up at Illu, but his sight was blurred by my tears. If I couldn't tell him, then who could I tell? I trusted him more than anyone and I could never lie to him. I sat down with my tail curled around my paws. It was strangely reassuring to have it securely wrapped around me like a blanket. I held Illu's gaze as he took a seat, not even trying to hide his concern. I looked at my paws and started off saying with a shaky voice: "I had a vision of Wigglytuff's Guild as Tsuki, the Daughter of Darkness, destroyed it..."

. . .

Illu listened very intently to every word of my story. I began with how I found myself standing outside the guild and ended with how I yelled at Chatot then jumped through the portal. Illu was a very good listener and I found my voice growing firmer, stronger, as the story went on. Illu's ears perked up when I mentioned the Shinx named Illuminate and when I explained that Tsuki's real name was Taiyo. I told him how I could use Pokemon moves when I was chained up and how I thought I was the Daughter of Darkness and how everyone else thought so too. Then, of course, it was discovered that Tsuki wasn't truly me because she was seen at Fogbound Lake moments ago. I was a little afraid to ask, but I did. "Well, what do you think?"

For a moment, Illu didn't respond as he tried to take it all in. It was a lot to ask of anyone, but so was asking him to believe I was truly a human. I don't know why, but he trusted me. What compelled him to trust in me? Illu looked up and held my gaze. "I can't believe all that happened to you…"

I nodded in agreement. "I can't either… What do you make of it all? A-Am I the Daughter of Darkness?"

Illu laughed to reassure me of the stupidity of the question. "No way! You don't even have the mark under your eye, right? The name Taiyo is common enough for it to be possible that Tsuki's real name is Taiyo. Maybe it's a penname or something. Not only that, but you would have to be super old to be Tsuki. I agree that there are some chilling coincidences, such as how Tsuki was an eevee at one point, but I don't see how that connects to you."

"What about the Shinx named Illuminate?" I inquired. "Wigglytuff said that Tsuki gave him the nickname Illu. I gave you the nickname Illu too!"

Illu furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "I have no clue how that applies to me, but there is something weird about it all…"

I heaved a sigh in frustration. "Nothing makes sense anymore…"

"My life stopped making sense the moment I met you," Illu said but not unkindly.

Lost in thought, I wondered over to the edge of the water. I gazed out at the gray lake deep in thought at what all this could mean. "What did they do to you?" I asked Illu while looking across the water.

"What did who- oh," Illu wearily replied while stepping up beside me. "They dragged me through the portal at Soul Union." Illu turned to look at me but I didn't catch his eyes; I was focusing on one of the balls of light hanging over the lake. "Did you know the pool was a portal?"

I nodded. "That's how I got here."

"Oh, right," Illu sheepishly smiled. "I hadn't thought of that. Anyway, it was the middle of the night, and I heard you screaming. I freaked out and tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't stop. You began screaming all these weird words that I didn't understand. '_Palun logh mig_,' and '_kuacha,' _was what you started to screech. I only remember it because you said it so many times.

The whole guild was at our door not long after that. Chatot stepped into the room at the front line and he looked as scared as I felt. You looked possessed or something with how you were thrashing and yelling. You opened your eyes though, but you looked crazed. You started screaming and wrenching yourself around and then you just collapsed like a dead weight and fell silent.

Everything was pretty still for a while because no one knew what to do, and then everyone started yelling at Chatot for letting some crazy into the guild. Meinshao shoved her way to the front and told us all what you were saying. You were speaking the Language of Darkness. It is an ancient tongue that almost no one knows anymore called _Kivuli_ and that word means 'shadow.' What you were saying was 'please forgive me' and 'stop.'

Everyone thought you were the Daughter of Darkness and demanded you to be chained up. Sage, the zebstrika, was leading most of it, but I tried to protest. I fought really hard for you, but then they turned on me. Everyone thought I was trying to hide your real identity as the Daughter of Darkness and then demanded I be chained up.

Something that really surprised me was that Chatot was against locking you up. He told everyone he was certain of your innocence but no one believed him. He said that it was just a nightmare that you were not the one to blame. He was overwhelmed though because even Axel turned on him. He had no choice but to chain us up.

You were kept up in the volcano thing because you were still out-cold. Chatot was going to take me here to see a Pokemon named Uxie who lives here at this place called Fogbound Lake. Uxie has the power to look into the minds of Pokemon and alter their memories. The rest of the guild demanded my memories be probed through to find evidence of your 'identity.' Chatot didn't force me to be chained up though. He told took me here in chains to shut the rest of the guild up, but once we got here, he took them off, and apologized to me about it. Axel seemed to be pretty annoyed about it, but he didn't question Chatot.

We stood on the edge of the water, and a Pokemon appeared. His name was Uxie, but before he could look inside my head, Tsuki appeared. She seemed to just fall out of the sky and land right in the middle of the lake. There used to be a glowing thing called a Time Gear in the center which Uxie is supposed to guard, but Tsuki appeared too fast that no one had time to react. She snatched the Time Gear and left through a portal she just opened up, probably back to the World of Darkness, in less than a minute.

With the Time Gear gone, time here started to stop as this gray began to take over everything. All of us ran away of course, but I tripped over the chains that Chatot tossed aside. They didn't see me fall behind and kept on running away from the growing gray time freeze. Uxie teleported them away but I was left behind. I thought I would be swallowed by the lapse in time, but it just passed right over me. Everything else was frozen though. I was really surprised, and I began to look around for a way down from this plateau, when I saw a bright flash of light, then you appeared!" Illu gestured to the lights over on the center of the lake. "See those? The time lapse caught them. Those are volbeat and illumise who are caught in this time freeze caused by the loss of the Time Gear. I was really lucky not to be caught."

I didn't even bother to look to see the Pokemon trapped in the time freeze. I was too overwhelmed with all of this new information. "Oh Arceus… I started screaming the Language of Darkness!"

Illu offered an empathetic smile. "It could have something to do with your human life. You were saying stop because you wanted the vision to end and forgive me because you thought you were Tsuki."

"How did I know those words though!" I begged Illu for a reasonable answer to explain everything. "I didn't even recognize them as you were saying them to me!"

"Maybe you heard Tsuki saying those words in the dream and subconsciously remembered them?" Illu offered. When he saw my unconvinced expression he took a step forward. "Taiyo, you are _not _a bad Pokemon or human or whatever. The fact that you care so much proves that. I know who you are and you know who you are. So forget about the identity the others are trying to force you to claim. You're Taiyo, ok? And we're going back to Soul Union."

"What!" I exclaimed. "I can't go back there! Everyone hates me! They hate us!"

"They only hate you because they don't know who you are! Show them, Taiyo! We have to back to Soul Union, because Chatot believes in us, and we can't let him down," Illu's tone was strong in my moment of weakness.

I held Illu's eyes for a long moment before I turned away. "Thank you, Illu. I guess I do have to make amends with Chatot. Especially since I've been wrong about him..."

Illu smiled at me. "He'll understand."

The ground under my feet began to rattle from an unseen force. The vibrations were faint, like the weak pulse of the earth. They began to amplify and become more forceful and powerful. "What is that?" I asked Illu while looking down at my feet in question.

"An earthquake?" Illu looked around in confusion. Without warning, a blue light blasted its way through the gray weariness of this place. Illu and I leapt back in surprise with our hackles raised in preparation to attack. The blue light shook and shot out like bolts of lightning that were rough and unpredictable. A sound like the air cracking open ruptured my ear drums forcing me to close my eyes and flatten my ears against my head to block out the noise. As quickly as it came, the sound stopped.

Ringing sang through my broken ears as I slowly straightened up. Before me, was one of the last Pokemon I expected to see.

"Stamp!" I exclaimed totally off guard. "What are you doing here! How did you find us?"

Stamp smiled at my shock, clearly please by his unique entrance. "Chatot told us he took Illu to Fogbound Lake and guessed that's where you were heading." Stamp turned to face Illu who still seemed to be in a daze. "Good to see you're safe! Chatot thought you were swallowed up by the time lapse when he realized you were left behind."

"D-Doesn't everyone hate us? Why did you come after us?" Illu's eyes were wide as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"First impressions are more often than not, incorrect." Stamp bowed his head to us. "On behalf of everyone in Soul Union, I offer our sincerest apologies and would like to ask if you would return to the guild with me."

_Well that was convenient. _I looked over at Illu who was finally waking up. He gave me a small nod of encouragement and a smile. I looked over to Stamp who still hadn't moved out of his bowed position. "Stand up," I laughed. "We're cool. Sage was behind most of this anyway."

Stamp rose to his full height and nodded in agreement. "Yes, I am afraid he is quite persuasive which is odd for one who is not at all suave. There's something different about you though, Taiyo. We perceived differences as a bad thing at first, but who knows? You might end up saving the world one day or something!"

"Thanks," I smiled not really knowing what to say and rather anxious to get of the topic about how I'm 'special.' I turned to face Illu. "Ready to go?"

"Finally!" Illu joked. We both turned to Stamp at the same time though with an uneasy question in our minds. "Do we have to…"

"Walk?" I concluded with a twitch of anxiety. I was so tired; the last thing I wanted to do was walk a hundred miles to Soul Union.

"Why don't we fly instead?" Stamp extended his wings to remind us he could do that much to our relief. "I find it is much faster."

"Will you carry us?" I asked before thinking about the question.

"Did you not know?" Stamp seemed amusingly surprised. "I am the messenger in Soul Union; I have to carry parcels and occasionally Pokemon for very long distances. I think I can handle two unevolved kids like you."

"Great," I yawned. "I'm exhausted."

Stamp knelt to the ground so we could reach him because he was over 4' tall. "Ok," Stamp instructed. "Taiyo, you first because you're smaller. Climb onto my back and sit up as close to my neck as you can so then Illu will hold onto you from behind."

It was pretty awkward climbing onto Stamp but it didn't last long. I nestled myself in the nook by his neck and body. I found I could place both of my hind legs just in front of his wings in a perfect position. I wrapped by front paws around Stamp's neck for safety but was careful not to choke him. Anticipation began to bubble in my throat at the thought of flying but I was also pretty excited. Illu climbed on next and he had to hold me by the waist so he wouldn't fall off. Illu's body was warm and the heat of his body was making me more aware of my drowsiness.

"How long will we fly?" I heard Illu call to Stamp who was preparing to take off.

Without turning back, Stamp extended his wings. "I'd say a few hours at least. You can sleep if you like."

At the word sleep, my jaws involuntarily parted in a yawn. "I think I might take you up on that." I balanced my head on Stamp's neck but was well are that Illu was holding my waist to keep me from falling. I opened my mouth to thank him, but sleep was coming on too quickly. The wind whipped up around us as I became dully aware of our ascension to the sky. The furious sound of Stamp's wings flapping to gain altitude roared in my ears. The last thing I saw before I fell into sleep was the gray lake growing smaller and smaller in the distance…


	12. Chapter 11: Returning

_Author's Note: Hey there world! I am SO excited for the new game coming out on Sunday! Gates to Infinity here I come! =^_^= Thank you so much to everyone who is reading, you have no idea how much it means to me! Don't be shy and review or like whatever! THANK YOU WORLD!_

The comforting respite of sleep was sweet relief. Images of dreams sailed past by eyes so fast that I couldn't even pull them together to create one consistent dream. Flashes of my first moments in the forest blinked past me and I saw Illu and me sharing the Oran berries together. Somehow, I found solace in these moments which could explain why I subconsciously drifted to them.

When I finally opened my eyes, I felt better than ever. I gave a little yawn and flexed my legs and paws. The peaceful breeze sailed through my fur and tussled my cream collar of fur. The sun was shining and the sky was bluer than a wobbuffet. Summer sunlight poured through the clouds that floated past us as little wisps of cotton. The rhythm of Stamp's beating wings seemed to be in time with the chirps of the occasional starly or taillow that would fly by to greet us.

Feeling a little bold, I decided to take a peek at the ground. What I saw didn't fill me with fear, only awe. We were hundreds of feet above the ground. From up here, I could see for miles all around us. Most of what I could see was very mountainous. The land seemed to erupt out of the ground and rise up to meet us. Even at our height, they peeks never came close to touching us. If I craned by neck to look behind, the gray of the time lapse at Fogbound Lake could no longer be seen. Below us, time lapse seemed to be long out of reach as the greenery that covered the mountains and the blue water that rushed down the sides was on display. _Is there any eeveelution that's a flying type? Maybe Sylveon…_

"Wow!" I shouted over the sound of the whistling air. "What do you think Illu?" I waited a little while for a response but when Illu didn't acknowledge me, I craned my neck to try to look behind me.

"D-Don't move!" Illu's voice trembled. In the glimpse I caught of him, I saw his fur was standing on end with fear. He had his eyes squeezed shut to block out the events. His body trembled not from cold, but fear. Raw fear. "I-I just don't want to fall!"

I turned to face forward again to comfort Illu as his grip around my waist tightened with his agony. "It's ok!" I tried to reassure him. "You won't fall. Stamp wouldn't let that happen."

"But what if he did?" Illu was holding himself perfectly still to avoid any kind of accident.

"But he won't."

"But what if he did?"

"He won't."

"But what if he-"

"He'll catch you then," I cut him off.

"H-How do you know?" Illu's grip tightened even further and I gave a little cough as he chocked me. Apologetically, he loosened it a little.

"Stamp!" I called over the roaring wind. I didn't have to scream so loud when I was talking to Illu because he was right behind me, but trying to force my voice against the wind was a challenge. "STAMP!"

"Yes?" Stamp's voice sailed behind him to my ears.

"If me or Illu fell off, you'd catch us right?" I called.

Stamp's body shook as he gave a chuckle causing Illu to clutch my fur for dear life. "Why don't you try it and find out?" I could hear the amusement in his voice that was sort of edged with a challenge.

"For real?" I smirked.

"Go on," Stamp nodded. "I'm not in a rush."

"Taiyo-" Illu's voice was edged with desperation. "Please,"

I swung my legs around so that I could face Illu. He looked even worse than when I looked back at him a moment before now that the idea of voluntarily falling off had come to mind. "Illu," I simply said his name. "It's ok."

"Oh, so we aren't jumping?" Illu heaved a sigh of relief.

"We're jumping," I smirked. Terror blazed in Illu's eyes, but I kept talking. "Do you want to be beaten by something that is perfectly safe? We're going to be on an Exploration Team, so find your sense of adventure! I believe you can jump, Illu!"

"Taiyo," Illu begged. "I'm telling you; I can't."

"Do you trust me?" I held his eyes with all seriousness.

He didn't hesitate to answer. "Of course! But-"

"Then trust me when I tell you that you can jump!" Our gazed were held for a moment before I held out my paw to Illu. His eyes flashed to my extended paw before he returned his eyes to mine. Gingerly, he took it. I gave him a smile of reassurance before turning to face the edge of Stamp's body. I peeked at the ground as it raced below us. The mountains had flattened into a more forest-like surrounding which made things seem a little easier. A pang of fear jolted through my body, but I'd never let Illu see that. I bunched up my leg muscles and Illu hastily copied my actions.

"One… Two… THREE!" I shouted and with Illu less than a heartbeat behind me, we both leapt off of Stamp's body into the welcoming atmosphere.

Illu's grip on my paw was like steel and I couldn't help but return the fearful grip. Terror rose in my throat and chocked me when I tried to scream. My eyes flew open with fright as my stomach slammed into my chest. The ground was racing towards us at alarming speeds and the wind tore through my fur like it was trying to skin me. I looked over at Illu who was staring at me in disbelief. I gave him a sheepish smile and he began to laugh at my pathetic display.

Faster than the speed at which we were falling, my terror melted away. I couldn't help but smile and Illu the same. We began to laugh even at how pathetic we were. A flash of white seemed to appear before me before allowing us to land upon it.

Stamp eased our landing and allowed us to land quite gracefully. I had managed to land squarely in the position I was in before and Illu too. He put his paws around my waist and his body still shook from laughter. I chuckled in embarrassment as Stamp pounded his wings against the air to regain the lost altitude.

Once we were leveled out, Stamp called back to us. "How was free falling?"

Illu's grip around my waist was light and more protective now than the previous cling to life it had been. I was glad I was able to help him get over his fear. "It was great!" he called with amusement brimming in his voice. "I had a great time!"

"That was quite the experience," I said while breathing in an inner sigh of relief that it was over. My fur was only just falling back into place from where the wind jerked it but my flesh still stung. I liked the peacefulness to loftily sailing like I was on Stamp's back but free falling was a bit of a different ballpark.

"Just hold tight," Stamp called back to us while banking left. My stomach did a flip and I shuddered but pretended it was because I was cold. "We should be at Soul Union in about an hour or so."

I closed my eyes and tried to enjoy the peacefulness of sky sailing. Behind me, I heard Illu whisper something. I strained to make out the words against the whipping wind. It took me a moment to process them as he said them. _Thank you, Taiyo._

. . .

It really didn't feel like it had been an hour when Soul Union finally came into view. It was like picking out one of the brightest stars in the sky because of the large light ball thing nested by the grassy volcano at the top of the square building. As time went on, everything else quickly became clearer. Soul Union was built into the side of a cliff and was much more elevated than everything else so it took longer for everything else to come into focus. The many buildings of Treasure Village, oops, Town, sorry. Anyway, the many buildings of Treasure Town looked like a basket of berries because every building was a different color. Shadowy figures that were hard to make out bustled about living their daily lives. If I squinted, I was able to see Slip, the two kelcleon from the store… a Pokemon that looked like an azumarill talking to the kelcleon. Another Pokemon that looked like Zeal was walking towards Soul Union with a poochyena who was trying to haul a crateful of brown stuff up the stairs to Soul Union. Why would they be hauling brown stuff up the stairs? _Wait a second…_

"Hey Illu," I said while nudging him. I pointed my paw towards the two and Illu looked in the direction I was pointing. "What's in the cart that poochyena's tugging?" I wrinkled my nose in disgust at what I thought of it to be.

Illu squinted his eyes against the sun as he scrutinized the area. "Where?" He tilted his head to the side in confusion. "I don't see them."

"Right at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the guild." I said while indicating my paw again.

With perfect balance, Illu gently moved my paw out of the way. His eyes lit up when he was them but then he turned to me with a smile. "Your paw was blocking my vision."

"Sorry," I apologized but I kept my eyes on the two who were much closer than before. The brown contents of the cart were spilling out the back with the incline of the stairs. "But, what's in the cart?"

Illu took one swift glance at the cart. "Dirt, I'm assuming."

"Dirt like soil," I asked to verify. "Or dirt like poop?"

"Why would they be hauling a cart full of poop up the stairs of the guild?" Illu grinned.

"I wasn't sure, so that's why I asked you!" I tried to defend myself. "From so far away…" I let my voice trail off.

"It looked like poop to you?" Illu guessed with an amused smirk on his face.

"When you see brown stuff in a cart, you get suspicious!" I snapped.

"No one would ever assume that to be poop!" Illu rolled his eyes. "Dirt is actually a common building material. They're probably making repairs."

My mind flashed back to the guild. I allowed my mind's eyes to repaint the interior in my mind. "I don't remember anything being broken," I mused.

"I guess we'll just have to see when we get there," Illu shrugged.

Stamp began to circle the guild as he prepared to land. The closer we got to descending, the more nervous I felt. What was I going to say to Chatot? How could I ever apologize? My heart rate quickened with anticipation. I would just have to come right out and beg for forgiveness. I don't really have an option to be proud at this point.

As light as a leaf, Stamp gracefully floated to the ground. His wings pounded against the air to slow our fall and a dust cloud began to swirl around us. Zeal and the poochyena were at the top of the stairs at this point but they stopped to watch us land. The force of Stamp's wings tipped some of the dirt out of their cart that was assembled with twined twigs and grass. We certainly made quite the entrance and landed directly in front of the door, just an inch in front of the grate for detecting footprints.

Without saying anything, Stamp lowered himself to the ground to let us off of his back. My nerves were raging and fear for Chatot's reaction made my ears buzz. Mindlessly, I slid off with Illu just behind me. Zeal and the poochyena were watching us with intense interest as their eyes sparkled with curiosity. Beside me, Illu shifted uncomfortably. I fidgeted my paws to try to release some of my anxiety. I tried not to make eye contact with Zeal or the poochyena as I kept my eyes fixed on the blue gem in the center of the door.

"Zeal, Roar," Stamp turned around to face the two Pokemon behind us, but I didn't move and neither did Illu. "Don't you have some business to attend to?"

I could sense their unwillingness to leave. They wanted to stay and watch the show, but Stamp's meaning was clear. "Actually, we were just bringing this cart into the guild to repair the hole that thing-" Roar broke off and corrected himself, "Taiyo dug."

I forgot about the hole I dug through the roof. So Illu was right about the repairs, but I still didn't turn to face the two.

"Shouldn't you fetch some more than? It was a brilliant hole," Stamp was close to chiding them. I sent him a silent thank you, but somehow, I'm already sure he knew what I meant.

"But-" Zeal protested.

"Now," Stamp said with a fake happy tone.

Reluctantly, the two of them made their way down the stairs. When he was sure they were gone, Stamp turned to us with sympathy softening his features.

"Thank you," I said while turning to face Stamp. I tried to keep my voice from wavering with nervousness but it was still uncertain.

"I understand," Stamp replied. "It's difficult enough for you to face Chatot without an audience."

_Chatot must have told Stamp what I said_ I thought once I realized Stamp didn't overhear the conversation. Illu nudged my shoulder for encouragement. I knew he understood how terrible I felt.

"Footprint detected! Footprint detected! Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" I heard a voice call from the ground. I looked over to the grate to see Stamp standing on it to announce our arrival. _Not long now…_"The footprint is Stamp's! The footprint is Stamp's!"

I closed my eyes for a moment with the sound of my heart beat roaring in my ears. What was Chatot going to say to me? How could I face him after what I said?

The creaky blue door slowly swung open to reveal a figure on the other side. That figure was waiting for us to arrive. Like a predator about lying in wait for their prey, it stayed there, unmoving, concealed by darkness. _Chatot._

He took two shaky steps into the light. As he walked, one feather drifted behind him as he shed it. Chatot looked a little… crazed. His eyes were dilated with his lack of sleep and were bloodshot. His movements were jerky, almost spasm-like, and he seemed to put a lot of thought into staying balanced. Stamp cautiously stepped off the grate, never allowing his eyes to leave Chatot. "Guildmaster?" Stamp said with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Chatot croaked with a hoarse voice. "I see you found them," Chatot said without making eye contact with anyone. His eyes seemed to burn like he was staring at something we could not see, but he wanted us to see it.

"Yes," Stamp chose his words carefully. "I have found them."

"Why have you brought these devils back to me?" Chatot asked the question like he was asking how the weather was which made it even creepier. Illu and I exchanged uneasy glances, but Chatot noticed that. His head snapped to Illu and I, and only one of his eyes were focused on us. The other lazily drifted behind. "See! They think I'm crazy! That I'd let my guild members, my _friends_, die! I let you into my guild and put my faith in you, defended you when everyone else didn't, and you repaid me with a stab!"

"Chatot," I tried to reason with him. "I-I'm really sorry! I didn't mean any of that! I didn't understand that you truly cared about the fate of Illu and I. I thought that-" I stopped myself when I realized that the truth might stab Chatot right now. "I thought that…"

"I know what you thought!" Chatot hissed. "You thought I just abandoned your friend Illu at Fogbound Lake! Left him chained up so he couldn't escape!" I flinched at the sharpness of his words and bowed my head to try to shield myself from some of Chatot's verbal blows.

"Yes," I whispered while looking at my paws. "That is what I thought," I paused for a moment when I heard Illu and Stamp suck in a sharp breath. "And I'm truly sorry Chatot." I looked up to look him in the eyes. "I was wrong about you, just like everyone else was wrong about me."

Something in Chatot changed at that moment. His lazy eye became aligned with the other as the madness seemed to visibly deflate from his expression. Now, he just looked tired. He still straightened his shoulders, and tried to look presentable. For a moment, it looked like he had gone off the deep end, but he seemed to be coming back to us. But it left him weary. "Yes," he admitted. "I was wrong about you."

"I'm sorry," I repeated, with as much conviction as I could manage. Illu and Stamp's relief was thick in the air and it was contagious too. I found myself breathing an inner sigh of relief that Chatot regained his senses.

"Yes, yes," Chatot said with a clipped tone. "Let's just get inside." Chatot's eyes fell on the cart with dirt that was left at the top of the stairs. "What is that doing here?" Chatot squinted his old eyes to make out the contents of the cart. "Is that cart filled with…?" he left the question to us to fill in the blanks.

"It's dirt," I explained. I slid Illu a sly glance and a laugh that said 'you know what I mean,' and Illu returned the smile.


	13. Chapter 12: Adjusting

_Author's Note: Another chapter sent into the public's eye. Thank you so much to anyone who is reading! Thank you thank you thank you! THANK YOU WORLD! =^_^=_

Walking through that door into Soul Union was strangely difficult. I don't know why though; I just felt like I was forbidden to go there. Stamp and Illu both shared overwhelming relief now that Chatot had woken up from his hissy-fit but I was still edgy. All of my human qualities were fading very quickly and I felt more and more like a pokemon as time went on… but something didn't feel quite right. I was different. What was it that scared everyone? I know speaking in Kivuli scared them, but there was something before that… Who knows? Fine-tuned pokemon instinct to pick up my underlying humanity? I want to believe that's the case, yet I can't seem to convince myself of that.

I allowed my mind to drift back to my dream about Wigglytuff's Guild. That was by far one of the most horrific things I've ever seen, but the images really aren't etched into my mind. I was scared and I saw pokemon die, but I don't see the images over and over. I can summon the memory when I need it, but it doesn't haunt me. Does that make me cold and heartless… or strong? Nothing about that memory makes any sense to me anyway. Why did I see it? What's the connection between that past and this present? I would talk to Chatot, but I'd be way to out of place right now if I did.

There are a few things I'm sure about in this world though… I know I was a human, I know I'm different, I know that somehow I belong in Soul Union, and that Illu is my best friend. Pokemon sure are weird like that. I've become so quickly attached to this pokemon in the short time I've been here. Illu is my best friend and when we were separated, I just felt so lost. I rely on him a lot and I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't met him. I might've gotten lost in that wretched forest and died before my journey hardly began. He cheered me right up when we were at Fogbound Lake. That really means more to me than anything. To have a friend as good as Illu, means the world to me.

What do I do now though? I've gone back to Soul Union; I'm going to enroll as an apprentice. Illu and I will join up on an exploration team… Before I wanted to be on a team to account for my sins because I thought I was Tsuki. Even though things are different now, I still want to be on an exploration team. I need to find some answers and helping pokemon out along the way really sounds like something I could fight for. We could do it too. We survived West Woodlands together, so we have some experience. I also want to prove myself to these pokemon. I am just as good as the next eevee. Or at least, I hope I am. For some reason, it matters to me what they think of me. I want them to accept me, so I guess I really have my work cut out for me. I'll do my best though. I can't explain it, but I'm motivated.

I looked over at Illu who was walking beside me. He had a content smile on his face, but his eyes were a little distant. I nudged him on the shoulder with a big smile on my face. "Let's do awesome, ok?"

Illu gave me a quirky smile and looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "Let's do awesome?" he echoed. "In some weird way, that kinda motivated me."

"I think we should have that as our team's motivator!" I said on a whim.

"You mean like a motto?" Illu backed up my thoughts.

"Yeah," I agreed. "I guess so."

"We don't even have a team name yet though," Illu reminded me.

"You'll have to come up with one by tonight," Chatot butted in as he called behind his shoulder to us from the front. "That's when your ceremony is."

We had made it to the main floor of Soul Union by now. The bulletin board had many sheets of paper pinned up in the back but not many pokemon were around at this time of day. The portal in the center of the floor looked different than it did before. Now that it was daytime, the sun and the blue hue of the sky were reflecting off the water instead of the nighttime darkness I saw before. I preferred it with the daylight. The soft patches of grass were cool on my feet and I welcomed it. The light atmosphere was so relaxing, but something was out of place.

In the middle of the ceiling, there was a gaping hole. The grassy green of the ceiling was totally overturned and ruptured by this hole that churned through the dirt and rock that comprised the ceiling. A few stray vines even dangled down and flecks of dirt spotted the floor. Illu shot me a look as soon as he saw it and I only returned a sheepish smile.

Two pokemon were working on fixing the hole. A roserade who I recognized as Thorna was working along side a girafarig to mend the damage I caused. Thorna was growing vines out of the wall and then the girafarig would telepathically weave them into the roof. They had totally run out of the soil that was necessary to finally fill in the hole. From watching them for only a few moments, it was obvious that the vines were like a frame and the soil was the filler. Guess they needed the dirt cart... Oops.

Without even looking up from the vine she was creating, Thorna spoke. "Zeal! Roar! What in the name of Arceus took you so-" Thorna looked up at us and broke off. "Oh," she grunted clearly not happy to see us. "It's you. I was expecting my useless apprentices."

"Always a pleasure Thorna," Stamp said with mock politeness.

Before turning to look at the new visitors, the girafarig finished the vine it was working on. Finally, it faced us, but it made me uncomfortable because even though the end with the bigger head was looking our way, the eyes of the tail-head were locked on us. "'Dis da eevee ya speak af?"

"Yeah that's her alright," Thorna replied even though I couldn't make out what it was the girafarig said or even if it was a male or female.

"Taiyo, Illu," Chatot said without much feeling. "Meet Dopple, the doctor of Soul Union."

_That's the… doctor!? He- no wait, she… It can't even form a sentence!_

"Aye!" Dopple said while swaying its head back and forth for some reason. "Dats wat I am, so I am. Da doc!"

"I-I'm sorry," Illu asked. I just stared at Dopple, not really knowing what else to do. "What did you say?"

"I says," Dopple elaborated while swaying its head a lot more vigorously. "I says dat I- no, we!" Dopple corrected itself while looking back at its tail and flashing it a smile of affection. "We's da ones dat make yous betta! Best be k wit it!"

Dopple appeared to be waiting for an answer, but I hadn't even realized it asked a question. Illu and I exchanged looks and unspoken words flew through our gazes. I still had no clue what Dopple was saying but asking again seemed rude. Doubts about Dopple were like red flags in my mind. I don't want someone who can't form a sentence giving me medical attention, but I didn't voice my thoughts.

"Ok?" I offered my most generic response that could work for almost any phrase.

Dopple accepted my response and went back to weaving the vines. They eyes of its tail were still locked on us though and somehow I accidentally made awkward eye contact. Hastily, I smiled so as to seem friendly, but it only narrowed its freakish eyes at me. Uncomfortably, I turned away and put my attention in Thorna who was ranting about something.

"Someone get that useless hippopotas! He doesn't do a thing around here!" Thorna spat. "He's got to help us! And where in the World of Darkness are my damned apprentices!"

As if on cue, Zeal and Roar stumbled in through the door. Both of them were streaked with dirt and their sides heaved from their heavy breath. The wheel barrel of dirt was lopsided though and dirt was spilling out when the cart was moved. Out of the four wheels that the cart possessed, two of them, the back ones, were gone. "Sorry!" Roar gasped as he tried to even out his breath.

"What happened to the cart!" Thorna demanded with fiery rage.

Zeal hovered just behind the cart and a look of intimidation at Thorna flashed across her face for a moment but it was gone a little too quickly and was replaced with irritation. "Blame Roar!" she challenged while turning her nose up at her comrade. "It's _his _fault."

"_My _fault!" Roar's tone was ironed with irritation towards Zeal. "_You're_ the one who thought the wheel would hold up!"

"If you weren't so fat it would've!" Zeal snapped.

Both of them held each others eyes with rage burning through either side. They were staring so intently, I half expected lasers to shoot out of their eyes or something. The only one who looked even angrier was Thorna.

Thonra stepped between the two but they hardly seemed to notice. "Someone is going to explain to me what happened or else you'll both spend a week being Dopple's assistants."

"Woah!" Roar protested. "Isn't that a little harsh?"

"Two weeks!" Thorna's tone was glinted with satisfaction. "I've got all day here!"

Zeal muttered something I didn't quite catch but them she took a theatrical sigh and began her story. "After Stamp's entrance, he sent us away for a little while. We were halfway down the stairs when we decided we were wasting our precious energy. I suggested we ride down the stairs in the cart, and it would've worked if Fatty McLardass wasn't so heavy."

"It's not my fault! There was a lot of dirt in there too!" Roar growled. "And for the record," he said while tightening up his muscles. "This is alllll muscle!"

"You're 30 pounds fatty!" Zeal snickered. "I'm 2.2 so I barely contributed to this little mess!"

"That's it!" Thorna's voice boomed. "Both of you will fix the cart, and spend the next three days as Dopple's assistants!"

Zeal and Roar's attention snapped to Thorna. "No!" they wailed.

"Please, Thorna! Don't!" Zeal begged.

"The tail keeps staring at me!" Roar whined.

"Learn to face the consequences of your actions," Throna said. For some reason, I got the feeling she was enjoying that. "Hurry up and get me the cart so we can fix this damn hole."

The pair sulked over to the cart and hauled it over. It made a horrible screeching noise when it dragged across the ground. A thought that it would be terrible to have Thorna as a mentor came to mind. The pokemon got back to work now that they had the supplies needed. I was pretty impressed with the pokemon architecture and their resourcefulness in building. I was fascinated as I watched them working and wondered if I should offer to help.

I was about to say something when Chatot spoke up. "Alright everyone. Let's get out of their way," he said while leading us over towards the pool.

"Where's everyone else?" Illu asked as we walked over.

"Out doing jobs I think," Stamp replied. "During the day, exploration teams all go out for their jobs." Stamp gestured to the bulletin board. "All those papers are job requests. Jobs can vary from finding a lost item to a lost pokemon. You can apprehend criminals or escort pokemon or stand as a sentry for the day. There's a pretty large range for pokemon of all skill levels. Jobs have rewards too. Not all pokemon regularly do jobs though. There are a couple pokemon, such as Dopple and Notch, who stay here most of the time."

As Stamp was talking, I began to drift off. I looked to my right down at my reflection in the water. That eevee was staring back at me. I was quickly growing used to my body it was frightening. At first, this was the dream world, but now… it feels like my life as a human was a dream and this was what always existed. But that can't be… right?

A sudden thought flashed across my mind. Where was the room that Zeal questioned me? When we got here, we just walked right through the doors to the main floor. Before when I was with Zeal, I was in some sort of dark interrogation room, but it was no where in sight.

"Where's the little dark room we went through last time?" I asked to no one in particular.

"Oh, you mean the one Zeal took you through?" Stamp asked to confirm.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Wasn't it right through the door? We were, like, blocked off or something when we first came here."

"Oh yeah!" Illu's eyes lit up with the recollection. "I had forgotten about that place."

"It's our state-of-the-art security system," Chatot grunted as the walking was taking a toll on him.

"We decided it was sort of impossible to decide if someone was safe just based on their footprint. It's a little stupid and when a pokemon like Duskull comes along, we don't even notice anyone standing up there! Not to mention that anyone who even was dangerous probably wouldn't even try stepping on the grate and just bust through the doors," Stamp said in a matter of fact tone.

"Tsuki did that," Chatot muttered. My gaze snapped over to him, but I quickly realized I was the only one who heard that. Illu was earnestly agreeing with Stamp saying he didn't even realize those things as they both moved on from the comment they didn't even know existed. I also realized that there was no way for them to know how Tsuki even did the things she did because they weren't there or anything. Chatot was just saying that to himself. I wanted to console him because I understood that it must hurt but I wasn't even sure if he knew what I dreamt about.

"So it's more of a doorbell than anything," Stamp concluded.

"What do we use know?" Illu asked. I carefully moved my attention from Chatot, still unsure about him.

"Zeal and Dopple really do a lot of it," Stamp replied.

"Dopple does?" I was faintly surprised she was a part of something like security. Then again, it is a doctor.

"Why are you surprised?" Stamp asked. He didn't let me answer though which was a relief and he quickly moved on. "Her and Zeal have a physic barrier set up around here. The deactivation of it involves the footprint thing though. If you step on the grate and Tomb, the sentry, recognizes you, he tells Dopple to deactivate the barrier. Anyone who we've never seen before goes through a check with Zeal. She teleports the one in question to inside the volcano." Stamp pointed with one of his magnificent wings to the ceiling above us indicating that it was above us. That made sense though because I was able to dig out when I was up there.

"Light from outside doesn't get in there so it's perfectly dark. Zeal with then decide if the one in question is safe. If they get her check, she'll let them through." Stamp took a deep breath. "That was long winded."

"Since you have so much energy, why don't you give these two a full tour of Soul Union?" Chatot said. It wasn't really a question and more of an order, but Stamp seemed happy to oblige. It was obvious Chatot was exhausted so it'd be wise to give him a break.

"With pleasure!" Stamp chirped. Illu and I exchanged exited glances and a glimmer of hope floated through my mind.

_I hope Stamp is our mentor…_


	14. Chapter 13: Team Relic

_Author's Note: Hey there world! Whats going on! So if you get the chance, check out the poll on my profile! And, I'd like to thank lots of people for their support, especially the radioactivebunny and Christine! Woooo! You might've also noticed I changed to summary so review and stuff! Yay for being awesome! THANK YOU WORLD! =^_^=_

Much to my content, Chatot hobbled off somewhere. Presumably, he was going to take a nap and I can't blame him; he looks like he was run over by a herd of tauros. Stamp turned to look at Illu and me with a gleeful expression in his eyes. I wondered if he had ever had an apprentice or anything like this before, and that thought led me to question Stamp's age. He certainly wasn't as old as Chatot or young as Illu and I. I think in terms of human years, he was probably about late 20s early 30s. Sage and Thonra were probably the same.

"Alright!" Stamp smiled. "Let's do this!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Illu glance at me. I looked over at him and flashed him a smile. Illu shuttered with anticipation and I couldn't blame him. It was going to be really great here. I could just feel it. Both of us turned away and looked to Stamp who was leading us over to the Job Bulletin Board. From here, I could see the Board was made of chestnut wood and was draped with vines. A few colorful flowers were perched at the top of the Board which was a nice touch although were a little strange because they decorated an S.O.S. board. Many fluttering sheets of paper were attached to the Board with thorns that reminded me of those human things called thumbtacks. As we walked across the room, I tried to read the Job Board as we got closer and closer, but my vision failed me. Or maybe it wasn't my vision.

Upon closer inspection, it was clear that the words on the flyers attached to the Board weren't in any kind of writing I've ever seen or remember seeing. They were written in… something that looked like a ton of footprints on the paper.

"Here is where exploration teams pick out the jobs they want to do," Stamp said while using a wing to point to a random paper. "Tomorrow, your mentor will probably go with you on a job to show you the ropes. Jobs have different ratings based on their difficulty. The scale goes from E to S with S being the hardest. Those jobs are so tough, only teams approved by our guild master can go on them."

"Woah seriously?" Illu's eyes were wide. "What kind of job would be S-class?"

"Missions that cross worlds or go to one of the human regions are always S-class… Going to Zero Isle is always S-class… Serious criminal arrests would also be S-class if they were tough enough," Stamp explained.

"Woah!" I smiled. I turned to Illu with a grin. "One day, let's go on an S-class mission!"

"You wanna apprehend an S-class criminal?" Illu's tone revealed a beat of hesitation.

"Someone has to do it!" I replied. "Let's really be serious about making it there!"

For a moment, Illu's eyes glittered with an emotion I couldn't pinpoint. He held my gaze though to show him I wasn't going to drop it and he smiled at me. "I'll do my best!"

"That's the spirit everyone!" Stamp said. "Soul Union is lucky to have you two around. I guess we'd better get back to the tour though.

Let me explain to you the way we do jobs around here. If you don't remember it all now, your mentor will go through it all with you again, but I'll just briefly review this for you. As you can see, there are a huge variety of jobs here. They are updated every morning by Tomb who you'll probably get to meet later on in the day. When you decide your heading out for a job, take it down. We wouldn't want more than one team heading out for the same job! But once you take it down, you have to bring it with you on your mission. Once you return, your client will give you their stamp of approval and you put the approved letter in a mailbox which is downstairs. Every week, I take the letter from the mailbox to the Exploration Team Federation where they keep track of your rank points and send you the rewards you earn from your jobs. The rewards will go to your back account or your storage accounts after a few days."

"Do we have bank or storage accounts?" Illu asked.

"That's what you're worried about!" I exclaimed to Illu. "How are we supposed to remember all these technicalities when we go for jobs!"

"Don't worry Taiyo," Stamp reassured me. "It becomes second nature after a while. As for your question Illu, your mentor will take you guys to Treasure Town and set all that up with you. You aren't an official team yet, you know that right? That will be set after your ceremony."

"I can't wait!" Illu squirmed with excitement. "This is going to be great!"

"Have you chosen a team name yet?" Stamp asked us.

I shook my head. "We really haven't put much thought towards it."

"Don't you think you're pushing it a little late?" Stamp remarked. "Your ceremony is in a few hours."

"What's your team name?" I asked.

"I'm not on an exploration team. I'm the messenger, remember?" Stamp said.

"Wait!" Illu jumped. "So does that mean that you can't be our mentor!"

"Afraid so," Stamp nodded.

"What!" I protested. "But then who will be our mentor!"

"That's up to Chatot to decide," Stamp said but it didn't give me any reassurance.

"As long as it's not Thorna, we'll be ok," Illu said half to himself.

"Mentors don't work like that," Stamp corrected him. "In Soul Union, each exploration team member can only have one apprentice team. Thorna is already mentoring Team Wisp. On that team you have Zeal, Roar, and Chime I believe. The other apprentice team is Team Reflections with Plume, Slip, and Chop. They are mentored by Mein. I know all this is just names to you, but once you meet everyone, you'll have a better understanding. In Soul Union, including you two, there are 22 members. Including apprentice teams and your team-to-be, there are six exploration teams. Things are very close around here because we are a small guild, but it's like family, you know?" Stamp gave us a gentle smile and I think I began to understand what he meant.

"At any rate," Stamp said, "let's keep going." Stamp led us away and over to the other end of the large room. There were two hallways here that both extended to both my left and my right. In each of the hallways, entrances that led somewhere else were dug out in the sides of the walls. Doors sealed the holes and shielded them from our sight but they were each decorated by the team that inhabited the room. At the end of the hallway to my left, I noticed the dilapidated door of our crew room. In contrast, the right hallway's end was open and there wasn't even a door there. Instead, there was a hole in the ground with one of those bamboo ladders that led to a floor below us.

"You guys have seen these, right?" Stamp asked. "What do you think of your crew room?"

"It hardly has a door and it's dusty enough to make me sneeze until my heart stops," I joked which earned me a chuckle from Illu.

"That is where you are wrong, young caterpie," Stamp said with mock wisdom. "Chatot assigned you a very sacred crew room."

"Is it special because the door is somehow still standing?" I retorted.

"As Wigglytuff's guild collapsed, all the walls caved in and the guild was reduced to ruin," Stamp said which indicated another monologue. "However, the large window frame that is now inside that crew room remained intact. Only two things were salvaged from the Wigglytuff's Guild: a defense globe and that window frame. The reason it was installed back into that specific crew room was because in the old guild, Team Relic also had the crew room at the end of the right, well to our left now, hallway."

"Team Relic?" I said while turning to face Illu. Instead of the confused look I expected to see, I saw a look full of awe. "Do you know them Illu?"

"Do I _know_ them?" Illu asked in disbelief. "_Everyone_ knows them! They're only the most famous exploration team that has ever lived!"

"Amnesia, remember?" I replied as an excuse for my ignorance.

"Oh, right! I totally forgot, sorry," Illu apologized. He then looked to Stamp. "Will you tell her, or shall I?" Stamp gestured with his wing and took a step backward, and Illu's eyes lit up with gratitude. He turned to me with a smile on his face as he began the tale. "Ok, so 65 years ago, there was a human who-" Illu broke off for some reason as his jaws parted in astonishment.

"Illu?" I questioned. "What's wrong?"

Hastily, Illu turned behind him to look at Stamp who was just as confused as I was. Without warning, Illu's knees buckled and he was kneeling on the floor rolling around in complete agony. "Holy Arceus! Illu, are you alright!" Stamp exclaimed.

"I-I'm alright," Illu answered with his face contorted with pain. "I just suddenly… had to pee really badly."

"You have to pee!" I exclaimed. My shoulders began to uncontrollably shake with laughter and Stamp's flustered expression was priceless. With tears of laughter blurring up my vision, I tried to look at Illu in the eyes but I found it hard to keep a straight face.

"For Arceus sake, Illu!" Stamp cried. "Do it outside!"

Illu shakily rose to his feet and gave a grunt of pain. Thorna and the others were looking uncertainly in our direction, and I just flashed them a smile. I shouldered Illu outside, but the moment we were out of the eyesight of everyone in the guild, Illu straightened up immediately. He raced down the stairs with urgency as I stumbled after him. When I reached him at the foot, I noticed all signs of physical distress were gone; now he only looked worried.

"Don't you have to pee?" I huffed as I caught my breath from running. In response, Illu shook his head but his eyes were clouding with worry and shock. "So what was with the act?" I cautiously asked. "Is everything ok?"

"Taiyo, this is serious," Illu said gravely. "Sorry for rushing out here like this, but I didn't want Stamp or anyone to overhear our conversation."

"It's alright, but what's wrong?" I said in a soothing voice.

Illu drew a shaky breath. "65 years ago, there was an exploration team called Team Relic. They were enrolled in Wigglytuff's Guild and the team leader was the last pokemon recorded to have the ability Harmonics. She possessed the Dimensional Scream." Illu looked up at me. "You know what Harmonics are right?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Stamp told me about it."

"Ok, so anyway, for some reason, Temporal Tower was collapsing. Temporal Tower is a tower of time that regulates time everywhere and is ruled by Dialga. It's located in the Hidden Land which is a place almost nobody can reach. Following the collapse, time was disrupted and eventually the planet became paralyzed. Time froze completely and the world was plunged into eternal darkness until two individuals decided to reverse the effects of the Planet's Paralysis. Those two individuals were Grovyle and a human named Taiyo."

"A human named Taiyo…" I mused upon the thought. "That's certainly suspicious…"

"It gets weirder," Illu assured me. "The two traveled to the past with the help of a pokemon called Celebi, but during their time travel, they were separated by a lightning storm. The human awoke with no memory and she was turned into… an eevee."

"Wait, what!" I cried. "She's a human named Taiyo who woke up with no memory and was an eevee! Are you freaking kidding me!"

"I know, I know, but it gets even worse!" Illu said with distress. "The eevee was woken up by a Shinx named Illuminate and they formed an exploration team together."

"Illuminate…" I whispered. _"You were a human that had strangely transformed into an eevee and contracted amnesia. You applied with another. His name was Illu, right?" Wigglytuff smiled sadly as he thought of those fond memories._ "That must've been the same shinx Wigglytuff was taking about… But that means that…" Like finally finding another piece to an endless puzzle, things became even clearer in the blink of an eye. "Holy Arceus," I breathed. "How can this be? Tsuki is the same person as the Taiyo from the story! It all makes sense now… Stamp mentioning the rumor about Tsuki being a normal-type pokemon… Tsuki's real name being Taiyo… There's no doubt about it! But… how did all this happen! How can Tsuki and Taiyo be the same person!"

"I have no clue," Illu confessed. "This answer just ended up leading to more questions!"

"Ugh…" I muttered. "Well, what happened to Team Relic?"

"Long story short," Illu said, "Taiyo used her ability the Dimensional Scream to find Time Gears with Illu and later, Grovyle. They gathered them up and took them to Temporal Tower where they were used to fix the tower. However, because Taiyo came from the future and altered the past, she was obliterated along with Grovyle and everyone from the future."

"Obliterated?" I asked. "A-as in _killed_?" _"You passed away in Temporal Tower…" Wigglytuff said_. "I remember how Wigglytuff mentioned to Tsuki that she died in Temporal Tower… But if she died, how is she back now?"

Illu shook his head. "I'm as clueless as you are…"

"And another huge question… What does all this have to do with us!" I demanded.

"Ugh," Illu grunted under the weight of all this confusion. "Things are so difficult right now…"

"Are you FINISHED yet!" Stamp bellowed from the top of the stairs. Both of our heads snapped to the top of the stairs where an impatient Stamp stood glaring at us. "What are you standing around for! Get back inside!"

Illu and I exchanged glanced as a tacit agreement to keep silent about this passed between us. Feigning a carefree attitude, we marched up the stairs to follow Stamp back into the guild.


End file.
